LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Three Bay Area residents were arrested on Thursday afternoon as they were allegedly attempting to transport marijuana to Oakland.
Chiew Meuy Saephan, 26, and Chan Chiem Saephan, 52, both of Oakland, and Chan Tong Saephan, 50, of Suisun City were arrested after a California Highway Patrol officer stopped their pickup in the area of Highway 175 and McKinley Drive near Middletown.
The report from the CHP's Clear Lake Area office said Officer Rob Hearn was driving directly behind the 2004 Toyota pickup, which had a closed tonneau cover, just before 4 p.m. Thursday when he smelled the overwhelming odor of unburned marijuana and stopped the pickup.
When Hearn contacted the pickup's three occupants, they admitted to transporting marijuana and said they were headed to Oakland, according to the report.
The CHP said approximately 100 marijuana plants were found in the pickup.
Although all three subjects presented medical marijuana recommendations, they were found to be violation of Proposition 215 and were arrested, the CHP said.
Chiew Meuy Saephan was charged with felony counts of marijuana cultivation and transportation. Her bail was set at $15,000.
Chan Tong Saephan was booked on the same charges, with an additional misdemeanor count of driving without a license, while Chan Chiem Saephan was charged with a single count of felony marijuana cultivation, according to jail records. The bail for the men also was set at $15,000 each.
Jail records showed that Chan Tong Saephan posted the required percentage of bail and was released, while the other two subjects remained in custody on Friday evening.
The Lake County Sheriff's Narcotics Task Force assisted the CHP with transporting the marijuana from the scene to be destroyed, the report said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at [email protected] . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.