HILO, Hawai'i — Big Island prosecutors have filed to seize money belonging to one of two men who police say were setting up what amounted to marijuana cultivation franchises in Puna.

Deputy Prosecutor Mitchell Roth filed in Hilo Circuit Court on Nov. 8 for forfeiture of $8,000 that was seized from one of the men, charging that the money was used or intended for use in a marijuana farming operation.

According to documents filed in Hilo Circuit Court, a father-and-son team of Puna residents set up an operation in Hawaiian Paradise Park that struck deals last year and earlier this year with other area residents to establish greenhouses for raising marijuana.

The pair allegedly identified people involved in the marijuana trade and would offer to construct greenhouses and stock them with about 500 marijuana seedlings to get new farming operations started, according to court records.

According to a confidential informant cited in court records, the pair would leave the marijuana plants at the newly built greenhouses for others to cultivate until the plants flowered and were ready to harvest.

The operators of the greenhouses were then expected to harvest and sell the marijuana, and to give half of the proceeds to the two men who built the greenhouses and supplied the seedlings.

Under the terms of the deal, the greenhouses became the property of the newly established marijuana farmers after the first harvest, according to court records describing the operation.

The informant told police the pair also did business with some established farmers by selling them batches of marijuana seedlings of 20 to 32 plants for $20 each.

According to Circuit Court records, police raided and searched three homes that were linked to the operation this year, seizing marijuana plants, paraphernalia and a handgun.

Police said officers also seized the $8,000 in cash from a Hawaiian Paradise Park home that belonged to one of the organizers of the operation. That money was the subject of the forfeiture action filed in Hilo Circuit Court.

Neither of the two men who reportedly ran the marijuana cultivation scheme has been charged with a crime in connection with the operation, according to court records.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.