Soccer mom Andrea Sanderlin has been arrested and charged with growing thousands of marijuana plants with the intent to sell in Queens, New York. The illicit weed grow op is believed to be worth an estimated $3 million.
In a story that will remind some of the popular Showtime series Weeds , real life Nancy Botwin, middle-aged mother of two Andrea Sanderlin, has been leading a secret double life.
In her soccer mom life, Sanderlin could be seen spending time with her daughters, aged 3 and 13, as they lived in the New York suburb of Scarsdale. Sanderlin and her teenage daughter were known in their community for their athletic involvement and equestrian interests and are well known within those circles.
However, when she wasn’t with her daughters, socializing with their upper class suburbanite peers ,or riding horses, soccer mom Andrea Sanderlin would slip away to Queens, New York in her Mercedes–Benz SUV to live her second life.
In Queens, Sanderlin would drive to a large building housing a company known as Fantastic Enterprises. Reports say she was running what DEA Special Agent in Charge Brian Crowell called a “highly sophisticated indoor marijuana grow operation.”
An investigation into Sanderlin’s operation began in April when a confidential witness claimed a woman using the alias “Andi” was involved in a major weed growing op in Queens. According to reports , the op’s warehouse was found to be “using an unusually high amount of electricity.”
After successful DEA raid, the warehouse was found to have two grow rooms. DEA Special Agent David Lee stated:
“Each room contained state of the art lighting, irrigation and ventilation systems to facilitate growing the marijuana.”
A raid on Sanderlin’s property found documents and books related to money laundering and growing pot.
Soccer mom Andrea Sanderlin has already plead not guilty and will remain in jail pending a bond hearing following her arrest for involvement in a multi-million dollar weed grow op in late May.
[Image via USA Today / New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force]