Two Tacoma men arrested in the July slayings of a couple in a south Everett house connected to a Canadian marijuana grower have each been charged with two counts of aggravated first-degree murder.
Conviction of aggravated murder carries a life sentence without release or the death penalty.
A judge on Tuesday ordered Saroeun Phai, 24, and Areewa Saray, 20, held on $1 million bail. They were charged in Everett District Court. Prosecutors have until Nov. 30 to move the case to Snohomish County Superior Court, where felonies are prosecuted.
The men are charged in the July 2 gunshot slayings of Linda Nguyen, 20, and her boyfriend, Kevin Meas, 23.
Detectives linked the deaths to the same organized crime groups responsible for Canada’s multibillion-dollar “B.C. bud” marijuana industry, which is creeping across the border into U.S. neighborhoods.
Investigators found about 1,200 marijuana plants in the home where the two bodies were found and in a nearby home where a relative of one of the victims lived, court papers said.
Investigators tracked down Saray and Saroeun from leads collected from a car that was set afire a mile or so away from the home where the killings were discovered. Police believe the men drove the Honda to Everett and torched it in an attempt to hide evidence of the slayings, documents said.
The car was registered to Phai’s cousin, who told police Phai borrowed it to drive to Everett, investigators said.
Phai told investigators he and Saray went to the house hoping to rob the couple of thousands of dollars they believed was hidden there, according to documents.
Phai allegedly told detectives he and Saray shot Nguyen as she opened the front door. Meas was found shot to death in the basement. Both victims were shot twice in the head, documents said.
Violence is common among pot-growing organized crime rings in Canada. Organizations engage in home-invasion robberies and disputes with rival groups, investigators said. Much of the profits are moved out of Canada to Vietnam, detectives said.
Transporting marijuana into the U.S. from Canada has become increasingly risky following the 2001 terrorist attacks and tighter border controls, detectives said. Members of the rings started buying homes on this side of the border to grow dope.
Police found 800 marijuana plants in the home where the slayings occurred. Another 400 plants were found in a second home in on E. Beech Street, where Nguyen’s brother lived.
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