The raids this week surprised authorities, if not for the sophistication and organization of the operation, than for the number of marijuana plants seized.

Late Thursday morning the Houston Police Department’s Narcotics Division identified the five people arrested during the raids.

These individuals are: Tan Nguyen; Thien Nguyen; Minh Nguyen; Tuan Nguyen; and Van Nguyen.

Each is said to be from Vietnam.

And each is a part of what is being called an “organized crime” type of operation.

The raids of eight southeast Houston homes were captured only by 11 News.

Agents, over the course of a two-day operation, seized 3,100 marijuana plants weighing a collective 1,000 pounds, nine vehicles and $500,000 worth of hydroponics equipment.

Agents say it’s only a guess, but they suspect the men would have made, had they harvested the plants three times a year, upwards of $1.5 million, this year alone.

The raids, arrests and seizures, as we first reported, were the end result of a five-month investigation that began when agents discovered a sophisticated growing operation in Houston’s Montrose area in March.

Still not known is where in the northern United States the drugs were going, who was financing the operation and where the profits have ended up.

The investigation continues.