$2,000 bail for garden of pot; Suspect arraigned for `grow house'.

• Position: LOCAL NEWS

Byline: Gary V. Murray

WORCESTER - Bail was set at $2,000 cash yesterday for a city man charged with drug trafficking after police said they seized more than 750 marijuana plants Thursday night from a house on Alameda Road.

Tien Nguyen, 37, of 14 Whitmarsh Ave., Apt. 1, was arraigned in Central District Court yesterday morning on charges of trafficking in more than 100 pounds of marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Judge Steven A. Thomas entered not guilty pleas on Mr. Nguyen's behalf, set bail of $2,000 cash or $20,000 with surety and continued the case to Sept. 18.

Members of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force and the Worcester Police Department vice squad said the single-family house at 20 Alameda Road where the plants were found was being used exclusively as a "grow house" for marijuana and was equipped with sophisticated irrigation and artificial lighting systems.

Police obtained a search warrant for the house off Massasoit Road after an investigation that lasted...