PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners have approved a purchase offer for a 1.15-acre property off Tumwater Truck Route that was seized in 2022.
The property, at 4308 Nicholas Road, was seized after a four-year investigation into a network of illegal marijuana growing operations in the county.
Clallam County Sheriff Brian King wrote in a Wednesday morning email that it’s too soon in the process to reveal the buyer that commissioners approved during a closed, executive session on Monday.
“It needs to go through escrow and the sale needs to be finalized,” he said. “Essentially the agreement has been signed, but the deal still needs to go through closing.”
The cash offer is for $399,000. The assessor’s office website lists the value at $401,502. It includes a 3,800-square-foot building built in 1993.
A real estate sales website described the commercial industrial property as having a four-bay shop that provides “many uses to fit different needs” at a convenient location.
It also includes the following: “House on property is hazardous, septic failed and non-permitted. Property will need its own water meter installed. Buyer to verify all information to their satisfaction. AS-IS sale, seller will not remove any personal property or debris.”
King wrote in an email that the property was seized in December 2022 as a result of a four-year investigation by the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team (OPNET).
“A civil asset forfeiture action was brought against the owner, Dong Mai, who was convicted in Clallam County Superior Court in May 2022 of one count of unlawful use of a building for drug purposes and four counts of solicitation to commit unlawful use of a building for drug purposes,” King wrote.
He wrote that several properties had been identified in a network of illicit marijuana growing operations in the county.
Residential and commercial properties had been substantially altered to grow the marijuana.
The property used to belong to SOHO Properties PNW LLC. It was owned by Dong Hao Mai, 49, of Port Angeles.
Mai had wanted to turn an existing RV repair shop on the parcel into a 4,000-square-foot hydroponic legal cannabis production facility.
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Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at brian.gawley@peninsuladailynews.com.
