Owner of Brooklyn Maraschino Cherry company kills himself after police find huge marijuana-growing operation: sources

Arthur Mondella, 57, reportedly locked himself in
the bathroom and shot himself Tuesday.

A cherry manufacturing king committed suicide in a Brooklyn factory after his business was exposed Tuesday as a “Breaking Bad”-style drug den, sources said.

“Take care of my kids!” Arthur Mondella, 57, screamed to his sister after locking himself in a bathroom at the Dell’s Maraschino Cherries company.

The sound of a gunshot then echoed through the factory, home to the family-owned business since its 1939 opening. Joanne Capece stood outside helplessly as her brother pulled the trigger.

Investigators were searching for documents and questioning Mondella for about five hours when they came upon a flimsy-looking shelving system. Sent to the Red Hook business about 8 a.m. to uncover alleged pollution in the waters near the cherry plant, investigators were hit by a faint smell of weed.
A detective assigned to the Brooklyn district attorney’s office noticed the shelves attached to the wall by magnets. Authorities started asking Mondella about the partition and he excused himself. He walked into the bathroom attached to his office.

A source who knew Mondella told the Daily News that the cherry king had a license to carry a gun and often kept it holstered to his ankle.

After Mondella shot himself in the head, investigators were shocked to discover three bags holding about 80 pounds of pot and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash stashed in the factory, sources said.

Later, after executing a search warrant on the secret entrance, investigators uncovered “a huge marijuana-growing operation” underneath the warehouse, a source said. READ MORE