A family-run plumbing company in Central Massachusetts that authorities say was used as a “front” for a large-scale marijuana distribution business was mentioned in the investigation into a large-scale growing operation in Canada several years ago, according to records filed in federal court.

Charles "Chuck" Laverty, his wife, Andrea Laverty, and their son, Thomas Laverty, are all facing federal charges in connection with the discovery of $6 million in marijuana inside a Clinton warehouse in 2017. The family runs Chuck Laverty & Son Inc. in Millbury.

Lawyers for all three family members filed a motion last month saying all evidence seized from the Clinton warehouse and the family’s Millbury home should be suppressed.

The government is saying the searches at both locations were legal.

A federal prosecutor filed paperwork in late October including an affidavit filed by Robert Olsen, a special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The affidavit details the investigation into the Laverty plumbing business in 2017. Part of the investigation involved surveillance.

Olsen said on Sept. 7, 2017, he watched as a truck arrived at Chuck and Andrea Laverty’s home at 5 Victoria Terrace in Millbury. The truck was registered to a man who was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the DEA and identified as a former member of a “large-scale Canadian marijuana smuggling organization.”

The man pleaded guilty in a Vermont federal court to conspiracy to distribute marijuana in 2011.

Olsen reviewed an interview conducted with one of the defendants in the Canadian case. A defendant, who spoke to investigators in 2011, identified Thomas Laverty as being involved in marijuana distribution.

Thomas Laverty, according to the special agent, was “involved with a tractor-trailer load of marijuana that arrived at a Millbury, Massachusetts warehouse in March 2010.”

The warehouse was located on Howe Avenue in Millbury, which at the time, was connected with Chuck Laverty & Son.

Thomas Laverty, 38, of Clinton; Charles Laverty, 61, of Millbury; and Andrea Laverty, 61, of Millbury, were each charged with one count of conspiracy to manufacture more than 1,000 marijuana plants and one count of conspiracy to launder money in federal court.

Thomas and Charles Laverty were also charged with manufacturing and possession marijuana with intent to distribute. Thomas Laverty is also accused theft of government funds relating to his receipt of SNAP benefits.

Federal and local drug investigators executed search warrants on Thomas Laverty's 843 Main St. residence in Clinton on Oct. 17, 2017, and seized more than 1,000 marijuana plants worth $6 million, according to an affidavit filed by Olsen.

Investigators also went to 5 Victoria Terrace in Millbury, the home of Chuck and Andrea Laverty and the location of the family business. Marijuana was seized from the Millbury home, authorities said.

Both locations housed grow operations, federal prosecutors said.

Authorities said there was a sophisticated grow operation in the Clinton warehouse with air-circulating machines, irrigation systems, plant food, indoor plant lighting and roughly 1,029 marijuana plants.

Investigators believe the Clinton location was used to house the large-scale marijuana growing operation while the Millbury location was used for storage and distribution.

Records on file in court show the DEA started an investigation into the plumbing and heating business in March 2017. Investigators conducted surveillance on the warehouse and Millbury home and pulled records from the electric company.

Investigators also reviewed tax and bank records for the family.