RALEIGH - Drug agents have charged a man with drug trafficking after he picked up 89 pounds of marijuana from an undercover officer, police said.

Thang Ngoc Dang, 37, of 10330 Crestgate Terrace, Unit 105, was charged with trafficking in marijuana by possession and by transportation, both felonies, according to records at the City-County Bureau of Identification.

Dang, described as a nail technician, was arrested March 19.

Dang got the marijuana from the undercover officer in a parking lot at Brier Creek Shopping Center, according to an affidavit filed by an agent with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

The affidavit, filed to obtain a search warrant, described the drug as "hydro," a high grade marijuana grown hydroponically. Its street value is $3,000 per pound, according to the affidavit, or $267,000.

According to the affidavit, a surveillance team watched Dang meet the undercover agent at O'Charley's restaurant. While the two were in the restaurant, officers put a GPS tracker on Dang's car.

Raleigh police and federal officers watched as Dang and the agent left the restaurant and as Dang loaded the marijuana from the agent's vehicle to the BMW, according to the affidavit. The officers then followed Dang home and surrounded the residence.

A DEA agent knocked on the front door, but Dang knocked out a screen in a rear window in an attempt to escape, the affidavit said. Officers forced their way into the home, arrested Dang and found the marijuana.

Dang was released from the Wake County jail the next day after he posted $100,000 bond, a jail spokesperson said today.