200 pot plants found in Miami County home
One man was arrested Thursday evening at a home on the Montgomery-Miami County line where law enforcement officers confiscated at least 200 marijuana plants from inside the residence, outside it and from a barn on the property.
Agents with the Montgomery County Range Task Force and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation served a search warrant at 9477 North Montgomery County Line Road at about 6 p.m.
Miami County sheriff’s Lt. Steve Lord, a task force member, told News Center 7’s Kate Bartley that authorities found 100 plants in the home and a barn and at least 100 plants outside. Many of the plants were already packaged, dried and ready for sale, he said.
Two other adults and one child — a man, woman and a girl under 10 years of age — live in the house where authorities suspect the plants were dried in some rooms of the home and grown in other rooms.
The name of the man who was arrested, and details about what charges will be pursued, are expected to be released Friday, Lord said. The man, who is in his 30s, told authorities he had been growing marijuana on the property at least a decade.
He said it highly probable that charges will include cultivation of drugs and child endangerment because of the child’s age. She was sent to stay with family members, Lord said.
The other two adults have not been charged, as the preliminary investigation showed they didn’t seem to be a part of the operation, Lord said.
The find and arrest came almost by happenstance. Lord said a BCI helicopter stumbled onto the property by accident. It had been flying over Montgomery County, had turned to continue the search in that county when the pilot and an officer on board noticed the plants on the property in Miami County.
Law enforcement officers estimate that typically, a marijuana plant, after it has been processed, can generate up to $1,000 on the street.