A Scarsdale, N.Y. woman is accused of growing and attempting to sell nearly 3,000 marijuana plants from a New York City warehouse.
A federal complaint says authorities began investigating Andrea Sanderlin in April after a confidential witness reported her to law enforcement and said she was running a marijuana growing operation in Brooklyn or Queens.
Officials then reached out to Con Edison, looking for accounts under her name, and the utility advised them that one location in Queens was associated with her telephone number, and was using an "unusually high amount of electricity," the complaint said.
Con Edison also told agents that the utility bills were paid in cash.
Agents say they observed her gray Mercedes SUV several times at the Queens location.
When agents executed a search warrant there several days later, they found a "sophisticated operation to grow and process marijuana," including state-of-the-art lighting, irrigation and ventilation systems.
A DEA spokeswoman said Wednesday that the 2,800 marijuana plants would have been worth $3 million on the street.
Sanderlin's attorney, Joel Winograd, did not return phone or email messages seeking comment Tuesday night or Wednesday.
