The diminutive Thu Dinh supposedly worked as a manicurist at a Vietnamese-run nail salon, but federal authorities say she really made money orchestrating a network of elaborate indoor pot farms hidden in $300,000 suburban homes across the Houston region.

Her reputed drug business, according to recently unsealed court papers, testimony and interviews, yielded potent, pricey marijuana that sold for more than 10 times the price of its Mexican counterpart. A pound could sell for $5,000.

Federal agents describe secretly trailing 35-year-old Dinh as she made rounds from house to house and visits to a "command and control center," also tucked away in a residential area.

She drove a white Lexus.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy K. Johnson seemed incredulous to Dinh's recent request that she be released on bail pending the outcome of a trial, noting Dinh did not provide basic information about herself or the salon owner who supposedly loaned her the car.

"I find it very unusual to be a manicurist and have a white Lexus provided to you," Johnson said "(Dinh) could not recall the name of the business, or the address or the phone number. It is difficult for me to believe, 'I am a manicurist and I go to work every day, but I don't know where I work."

Legal resident

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Dinh, who legally emigrated from Vietnam and moved from Florida to Houston two or three years ago, is accused of being the boss of a drug-trafficking organization raided by agents who confiscated more than 19,000 pot plants from 55 homes across the Houston region, in a swath from The Woodlands down to Sugar Land.

In a raid last week to take down the "Dinh Drug Trafficking Organization," authorities arrested 24 people, in addition to 11 others previously charged.

The case appears to be linked to a July 2011 bust of an indoor pot-growing operation at houses in Houston and Cypress. Most if not all of those arrested with Dinh have ties to Vietnam, and most have no criminal records.

Dinh also has no previous convictions, though her brother is living in a Houston halfway house after serving prison time for his role in an indoor marijuana farm in Florida similar to those allegedly overseen here by his sister. In that case, a house was converted into a pot farm, apart from a kitchen with a television and cot, and an attic used to dry marijuana.

Her brother drove a black Lexus.

She's poor, lawyer says

Lawyer Mike DeGeurin said at the federal courthouse in Houston that Dinh, was "as poor as a church mouse," and that she was loaned a car and a place to stay as part of Vietnamese tradition.

Proving the scope and size of the pot-growing organization could prove challenging, as authorities apparently did not confiscate any computers or ledgers with records pertaining to harvests or sales.

No stacks of money or caches of guns were found. There also were no conversations captured on hidden tape recorders or monitored phone calls.

Authorities concede they never saw anyone standing among the growing plants but did watch people enter homes or garages and stay inside for several hours.

Agents and defense lawyers are trying to determine all the relationships and ties among those charged. Authorities have pumped their names through several data bases and contend they've uncovered a web of names interchanged for leases, power-company contracts and phones.

Some are married, or are relatives, or just have similar names. Many appear to speak little English and use interpreters for court appearances. Some are American citizens. Some are here on immigration permits or illegally in the country. Two have Canadian passports and one a Swiss passport.

Cash flow, minivans

DEA Special Agent Darren Butler said Dinh's organization is highly compartmentalized so most workers had limited roles and knew little of the overall scheme.

But some pot farmers have already admitted to the DEA they earned $1,000 to $2,000 a month tending plants, according to Butler.

Minivans were used to drive the workers to homes where pot was grown as well as drop off potting soil, chemical nutrients and equipment such as grow lights and power ballasts.

Plants were supposedly tucked away throughout the homes, but in many instances downstairs entrances were maintained to look normal.

Lawyer Norm Silverman, who is representing another person charged, said authorities haven't shown they know much about the accused, let alone if they are part of one organization, and have not pointed to even one sale of marijuana or said who was buying it.

"These people are related," he said. "They have all kinds of reasons for being together."

dane.schiller@chron.com twitter.com/daneschiller