The owner of a Brooklyn factory that makes maraschino cherries killed himself Tuesday after authorities uncovered evidence of a possible drug operation at the site.

Sources say investigators were looking into potential environmental violations at Dell's Maraschino Cherries earlier in the day when they smelled marijuana behind a wall partition.

When factory owner Arthur Mondella was asked about the smell, he excused himself to his office bathroom and shot himself.

The Brooklyn district attorney's office says Mondella had been cooperating with the search.

Sources say investigators later found three bags containing about 80 pounds of marijuana, along with hundreds of thousands of dollars and cars in the back lot.