NORRIDGEWOCK — Police seized thousands of marijuana plants while executing a search warrant at a residence Thursday morning, marking the latest in a series of recent busts of similar illegal growing operations across the state.
Photo courtesy of Somerset County Sheriff’s Office
More than 2,000 growing plants and 10 pounds of harvested marijuana were seized in the multi-agency raid of the Riverside Drive residence involving over a dozen law enforcement officers, according to Somerset County Sheriff Dale Lancaster.
Other “illicit drug related materials” and a 2016 Ford Transit van believed to be connected to the operation were also seized by police, according to Lancaster.
No arrests were made as no one was at the residence when police were investigating the property shortly after 7 a.m., Lancaster said. The people involved face charges of cultivation of marijuana and trafficking in scheduled drugs, both Class B offenses, when they are arrested.
Lancaster declined to provide further information about the suspects and how police identified this residence, citing an ongoing investigation.
The Norridgewock bust comes as Maine’s congressional delegation renewed their call to federal authorities last month to investigate illegal growing operations that reportedly benefit Chinese investors. Police in recent weeks have made arrests in Belgrade, China, Cornville, and Whitefield in connection with illegal grows that authorities say are circumventing Maine’s legal…
