[420 Girl]

FARMINGTON — About a 1,000 marijuana plants were stolen from a Farmington law enforcement evidence storage facility overnight Tuesday.

Law enforcement officials learned Wednesday morning that the plants, seized Tuesday in a northern Franklin County drug raid, were gone, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

He declined to provide the exact amount taken, and said the facility was a converted salt shed that has been used by various agencies to store evidence.

The marijuana had been seized from the properties of a father and son in Phillips.

Law enforcement officials hauled the plants to the Farmington facility Tuesday night. McCausland said he could not provide the exact time the plants arrived at the facility.

Tad Smith, 45, and Joseph Smith, 64, were both charged with felony cultivating marijuana after multiple law enforcement agencies early Tuesday morning discovered the plants on and around their properties.

Seventeen handguns were also seized from the father and son during the raid. No charges were filed related to the handguns. Both men were released Tuesday on $500 cash bail each.

“The DEA will be reviewing their policies as to where evidence is stored temporarily or permanently in the state as a result of this,” said McCausland.

The Farmington Police Department and Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and State Police are investigating the theft.


• Thanks to free2blaze for submitting this article


NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: pressherald.com
Author: DAVID ROBINSON
Copyright: 2010 MaineToday Media, Inc
Contact: Contact Us | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram
Website: Maine marijuana heist | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram


http://www.420magazine.com/forums/in...-facility.html