Arthur Mondella, 57, shot himself dead in the bathroom of Dell's Maraschino Cherries factory in Brooklyn, New York
Investigators looking into environmental offenses smelled marijuana coming from the walls
Mondella went into his private bathroom and shot himself in the head
Investigators had entered the premises on environmental warrants but suspected factory was being used as front for a grow lab
Officials discovered hundreds of thousands of dollars, 80 to 100lbs of pot and a fleet of vintage cars, including a Rolls Royce and Porsche
By Snejana Farberov
Investigators are now looking into a possible link between a maraschino cherry factory and organized crime after the owner of the New York-based business committed suicide on Tuesday.
Arthur Mondella, 57, president of Dell's Maraschino Cherries factory in Brooklyn, shot himself in the head as police broke into a drug lab hidden behind a wall.
Mondella had cooperated with investigators for five hours over allegations the 67-year-old family business had been dumping hazardous waste.
A pot operation was found to be operating behind the walls of the family business during a separate investigation into hazardous waste
But a law enforcement source tells New York Post that the Breaking Bad-style drug operation at the cherry plant may have been been just the tip of the iceberg.
'He knew the mob would kill him,' the unnamed source told the paper. 'That’s why he shot himself.
‘Why else would you shoot yourself over 100 pounds of weed? It was the multi-million operation he lost.’
Investigators reportedly came across suspicious shelving in a storage unit - then behind a door found a false wall with the smell of weed seeping through.
The entrance to a dug-out basement was then found, with three bags of marijuana inside.
According to the NY Post, generators were found inside the factory along with a high-tech security outfit of dozens of cameras, barbed wire and motion-detector lights.
Mondella then excused himself to go to his private bathroom, locked the door and shot himself at 1.30pm, a law enforcement source told Daily Mail Online.
Before committing suicide, the third-generation cherry tycoon told his sister who was present, Joanne Capece, 'Take care of my kids'.
Those present heard a single gunshot, according to CBS New York. Mondella later died at a local hospital from the .357 magnum gunshot wound.
The paper reported Wednesday that the cherry tycoon was hiding a .357 handgun strapped to his ankle. He had another gun in his office safe.
The DA's office and environmental regulators discovered 80-100lbs of pot in three large black bags and hundreds of thousands of dollars concealed in the secret room.
Shelves operated by magnets had been used to conceal the 50-by-50 feet drug lab, which has been described as an 'extremely professional' and very expensive operation.
A row of luxury vintage vehicles, including a Porsche, Rolls-Royce, a Harley-Davidson and a Mercedes, were also found covered in tarp in a back lot of the factory in the industrial area of Red Hook.
Calls to the business went unanswered Wednesday.
Investigators had been looking into the company over allegations it was dumping hazardous material into the sewage system and waterways - but had suspected that the facility was also being used as a grow lab.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars along with 80lbs of marijuana were reportedly discovered in the secret room behind the factory walls in Brooklyn, New York
One official told the New York Daily News: 'It appears there was another activity going on, that's for sure. I don't think you kill yourself over a bag of weed. There has to be more to it.'
Brooklyn District Attorney's office had received a tip-off about the marijuana operation in 2013, the New York Post reported.
Despite watching comings and goings at the factory for six months, the DA's office was unable to work out if there was a marijuana business operating inside.
An anonymous source told the paper that the environmental offense warrants were simply used to get into the building.
The DA's office said 'no further information about this tragedy is available at this time'.
Officers consult paper work during the investigation of the cherry factory on Tuesday. The Brooklyn district attorney's office had a tip-off in 2013 that the firm was fronting a marijuana operation
Dell's Maraschino Cherries, which has been in business for 76 years, supplies to Red Lobster, Buffalo Wild Wings, Chick-fil-A and TGI Fridays for use in cocktails and desserts.
Arthur Mondella's grandfather, Arthur Mondella Sr, started the business as a Brooklyn storefront in 1948.
The Brooklyn factory now turns out 400,000 bottles of cherries each week - and 19 million pounds of cherries a year.
The company recently underwent a $5million overhaul and redesigned their bottles with a retro label last year after the company suffered following the financial crash in 2008.
At the time Mr Mondella told The Wall Street Journal: 'At this point, the maraschino cherry is just another commodity. We’re trying to change that.'
Some 25 investigators arrived at the facility at 8am on Tuesday with search warrants to inspect its operations.
Mondella is survived by his ex-wife Yevgeniya and their five-year-old daughter Antoinette.