Police found hundreds of illegal marijuana plants and arrested a Houston man Feb. 22, at a property outside Jacksonville that was owned by James Gerald Martin, a local cannabis store owner who was murdered in Texas.

Two men who fled to Vietnam and are suspects in a Houston double murder involving the former owner of Rogue Valley Cannabis were captured by U.S. Marshals last week and brought back to the U.S., where they await extradition to Texas.

Polie Phan, 26, and Jaidan Vu Nguyen, 25, were on the run since Harris County, Texas, prosecutors charged them in March with murder in connection to the Jan. 27 deaths of James Gerald Martin III, 37, part-owner of Rogue Valley Cannabis, and Dana Lars Ryssdal, 35, who was affiliated with a Portland-based cannabis company.

The arrests of Phan and Nguyen stand apart from a third suspect, Kathy Vu, 23, who was arrested and has been charged with tampering with evidence for allegedly helping Phan and Nguyen cover up the Houston double-murder crime scene.

Authorities at the Houston crime scene uncovered 129 pounds of marijuana, 10 pounds of hash oil and $36,000 in cash, which led to a search by Rogue Valley law enforcement of property in the Applegate that belonged to Martin, who is a Houston native. The search of his Rogue Valley home resulted in the seizure of 572 marijuana plants, 275 pounds of processed illegal cannabis, two firearms and $7,600 in cash. A Houston man authorities believed was connected to the illegal grow, Baron Erik Munchausen, 36, was arrested during a traffic stop a short time after the search and later charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with {span}unlawful possession of a marijuana item, unlawful manufacture of a marijuana item and being a felon in possession of a firearm.{/span}

While the case involving the black-market grow remains ongoing, the arrests of Phan and Nguyen mark a significant development in the murder investigation, which was led by the U.S. Marshals Service Gulf Coast Violent Offenders and Fugitive Task Force.

Deputy United States Marshal Cameron Welch was not specific when asked Monday what led to the fugitives’ arrests, other than to say the marshals were able to “track down leads” that put Phan and Nguyen in “the Vietnam area.”

“This goes to show that regardless of the jurisdiction, fugitives may think they can leave the area but don’t always go undetected,” Welch said. “It’s another success story.”

Welch said the two accused murderers are in California.

Welch was not certain when the men would be transferred to Houston, where Phan and Nguyen will be turned over to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.

Welch said Houston authorities requested the marshals not hold a news conference regarding the arrests.

Meanwhile, in the Rogue Valley, Munchausen’s case saw movement last week.

Munchausen was granted by the court Thursday a new release agreement that allows him to live in his Texas home and appear virtually for court proceedings until his trial in Jackson County Circuit Court.

As part of the conditions of his release, Munchausen is under pre-trial monitoring, which forbids him from possessing weapons or firearms; consuming alcohol or any non-prescription cannabis.