'Largest drug bust' in Allegany County history found in abandoned cookie factory

Two people are facing charges in what investigators call the "largest drug bust" in Allegany County history.

The Wellsville Sun reports police in the Town of Cuba say they shut down a nearly $4 million illegal marijuana operation.

Police and Sheriff's deputies say this was the culmination of a years-long investigation that led them to an abandoned cookie factory turned drug lab on Farnsworth Road.

31-year-old Ana Maldonado-Delgado and 58-year-old Daniel Ackerman are both facing charges.

Maldonado-Delgado is currently in the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol, but Ackerman was released on appearance tickets despite officers saying he resisted arrest.

Cuba Police Chief Dustin Burch says this case highlights what he calls the failures of bail reform.

"I would venture to say that we have at least 50% or more in the last year of these people we're arresting resisting us," Burch says. "To me, it's almost like they're emboldened and it's frustrating because we do all this work [and] we potentially get hurt. I've been doing this 20 years, I've seen this a lot and since the bail reform has happened they're out within an hour."

Investigators say the two suspects were also in the process of setting up their own synthetic cannabis lab.