A man is the Franklin County Detention Center after a bust at a chicken house yielded millions of dollars worth of marijuana plants and products Friday in Canon.
Mitchell Posey, Special Agent in Charge of the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement Office, said citizen complaints led agents to the building on Casey Road. He said a complex growing operation took up the entirety of the building.
"The largest operation and most elaborate operation that I've ever seen," Posey said Saturday.
He said marijuana plants in all stages of the growing cycle were placed throughout the building with irrigation and lighting systems placed on timers to ensure that plants in different stages received proper amounts of light and water.
Guojian LI, who was found living at the property, was arrested and charged with manufacturing marijuana. Posey said that at least 100 pounds of finished marijuana product was found packaged and ready for sale.
He said the value of the equipment and marijuana combined is estimated at around $18 million. The equipment used to conduct the operation is estimated to be worth over $100,000.
"The shake, which technically still has THC content, was left sort of as trash," Posey said. "We collected 26 50-gallon bags of that. That just shows you how much marijuana was passing through this."
Officials are still investigating the case. It's the second such case in Franklin County in the past two weeks, however Posey said the two are not believed to be related.
"We don't want to discuss anything to do with the investigation itself going further. Just, we're real happy to get this product off the seize before it hits the streets," Posey said.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2018/5/670038/officials-seize-millions-of-dollars-worth-of-marijuana-in-franklin-county-chicken-house