[420 Girl]

ENGLEWOOD, Ill. - Chicago drug investigators raided an elaborate marijuana growing operation housing more than 400 cannabis plants in two adjacent South Side storefronts and arrested the alleged proprietor, police said Friday.

Authorities estimated the street value of confiscated drugs at more than $2.9 million.

Erwin Kupi, 35, of the 800 block of West 71st Street in the Englewood neighborhood, faces charges in connection with possessing more than 380 pounds of marijuana and producing more than 400 plants, according to a police press release. His bail was set at $150,000 when he appeared for his bond hearing wearing a tie-dye shirt in Cook County Bond Court today.

Narcotics officers executed two warrants about 1 p.m. Thursday at the double-storefront building where Kupi was living and allegedly raising marijuana, police said. The raid came after police received tips from area residents and complaints about drug trafficking in the area.

At the storefronts, police found several garbage bags full of marijuana in different stages of production, numerous healthy marijuana plants in various stages of growth, and marijuana hanging up to dry, according to police and a video taken after the raid.

Video taken by police after the raid shows several rooms crowded with lush marijuana plants under grow lamps, as well as materials apparently used to grow the marijuana, including a container of bat guano. In addition, police found an unregistered handgun at the site.

Kupi faces a charge of felony production of more than 200 cannabis plants,ddd two felony counts of possession of cannabis, a charge of failure to register a firearm and a misdemeanor charge of having no Illinois Firearms Owner Identification Card.


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