$27M Synthetic Marijuana Production Ring Busted In North Jersey

Four people, including a Paramus resident, were arrested following a seven-month long investigation into a synthetic marijuana production ring in Bergen and Passaic counties that would have created $27 million worth of the drug, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes announced Tuesday.

Authorities executed 13 search warrants in Passaic, Paramus, Fort Lee, Lodi, and Montville and four people were arrested from Aug. 18 to Oct. 29 in connection with the investigation, Valdes said. Authorities searched two 15,000-square-foot warehouses in Passaic and four separate storage units in Fort Lee and Lodi.

The four people arrested were:

• Aug. 18: Harris Khan, 28, of Staten Island, New York
• Sept. 9: Guadalupe Navarro-Martinez, 26, of Paterson
• Sept. 10: Heeru Nandwani, 35, of Paramus
• Oct. 29: Bong Kang, 48, of Montville

Detectives seized 11,400 pounds of vegetation, which, when combined with chemical and flavorings would have made synthetic marijuana, 2,000 packets of synthetic marijuana, 500,000 empty packets, 234 bottles of bath salts, and 32,290 male enhancement pills containing sildenafil, a prescription drug, and tools and equipment.

Khan Nandwani were both charged with first-degree maintaining or operating a controlled dangerous substance production facility, in addition to several second-, third-, and fourth-degree drug offenses. There bails were set at $150,000, authorities said.

Navarro-Martinez and Kang were both charged with second-degree conspiracy to maintain or operate a controlled dangerous substance production facility. Navarro-Martinez’s bail was set at $100,000, Kang’s at $75,000.

The first-degree charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The second-degree charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 10 years.

(Pictured: Heeru Nandwani, Harris Khan, Guadalup Navarro-Martinez, and Bong Kang/Courtesy of Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office)