Two women described by a prosecutor as "marijuana grannies" were jailed on allegations that they were growing hundreds of pot plants in their San Bruno home, authorities said Tuesday. 
 
 Aleen Lam, 72, and Virginia Chan Pon, 65, were arrested Friday after neighbors called police to report a burglary, said San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. 
 
 When officers arrived, they found the door had been kicked in and nobody was home. 
 
 Through the broken door, police could see marijuana growing inside the house, Wagstaffe said. 
 
 Police obtained a search warrant and found 800 marijuana plants, $3,000 in cash and an electrical bypass that allowed the women to tap into a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. power line to steal electricity, Wagstaffe said. 
 
 "This has not happened in the 34 years that I've been here," he said in describing the operation and the suspects' ages. 
 
 During an arraignment Monday, Lam and Pon pleaded not guilty to cultivation of marijuana, maintaining a house for the sale of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and unlawful theft of electricity from a utility, Wagstaffe said. 
 
 Both were ordered to return to court May 13 for a preliminary hearing. Neither woman had retained a lawyer, but they would be provided with court-appointed attorneys, Wagstaffe said. 
 
 With bail set at $100,000 each, Lam and Pon were still in custody late Tuesday, Wagstaffe said. 
 
 As for the two men accused of breaking into the home, they were arrested nearby. When officers pulled over a car that fit a description neighbors provided, they found Kitae Chae, 38, and Kenny Kong, 34, with thousands of dollars in cash and marijuana growing equipment, Wagstaffe said. 
 
 Both men pleaded not guilty to burglary and drug charges Monday. They remained jailed in lieu of $100,000 bail, Wagstaffe said. 
 
 Chae and Kong were also expected to be provided with court-appointed attorneys. 

 San Mateo County sheriff Aleen Lam, 72, charged with growing hundreds of marijuana plants in her San Bruno home. It's pretty common these days for robbers to target homes where marijuana is being grown... 
 
 San Bruno senior citizens busted on pot-farming charges 
 
 San Bruno senior citizens busted on pot-farming charges 
 
 San Mateo County sheriff 
 
 It's pretty common these days for robbers to target homes where marijuana is being grown. 
 
 Not so common: When the suspected pot growers are two women past retirement age. 
 
 San Mateo County sheriff 
 
 That was what San Bruno police uncovered Friday, according to San Mateo County prosecutors. 
 
 It all began when neighbors heard loud banging coming from the women's home on Valleywood Drive, nestled in between Skyline Boulevard and Interstate 280. 
 
 Then they saw two men, later identified as Kitae Chae, 38, and Kenny Kong, 34, breaking down the front door and lingering inside for a few minutes before driving off in a BMW, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. 
 
 The neighbors called police, and officers who stopped the BMW in South San Francisco found the men with $12,000 in cash, marijuana packaging material and seven ecstasy pills, Wagstaffe said. 
 
 When they arrived at the Valleywood Drive home, investigators found a substantial pot-growing operation: more than 800 marijuana plants, $3,000 in cash and a bypass through which electricity was being stolen from Pacific Gas and Electric Co., police said. 
 
 In short order, officers arrested the occupants -- 72-year-old Aleen Lam and Virginia Chan Pon, 65. It's not Pon's first run-in with the law: She is already facing charges in Yolo County for allegedly passing more than $40,000 in bad checks over a three-day period at Cache Creek Casino. 
 
 "I have never seen or heard of women in their 60s and 70s running a grow house," Wagstaffe said. "I certainly hope it is aberrational rather than a trend. I suppose profiteering in illegal enterprises crosses all the generations." 
 
 The two women face a variety of drug charges, and Chae and Kong are accused of drug and burglary counts. All four have pleaded not guilty and are being held at San Mateo County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail each. 
 
 Prosecutors have filed a motion requiring that the two women show a legitimate source for any bail they post. 
 
 Posted By: Henry K. Lee (Email, Twitter, Facebook) |
– Authorities have dubbed them the "marijuana grannies." Police in San Bruno, California, arrested Aleen Lam, 72, and Virginia Chan Pon, 65, after officers found 800 pot plants and a bypass to steal electricity from PG&E in the women's house, reports AP. The senior duo faces a slew of related charges. "I have never seen or heard of women in their 60s and 70s running a grow house," District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe tells the San Francisco Chronicle. "I certainly hope it is aberrational rather than a trend. I suppose profiteering in illegal enterprises crosses all the generations."