[OG Kush]

Thousands of marijuana plants carpeted the floor of an evidence room at the Albemarle County police headquarters Tuesday, the result of what authorities say is one of the largest pot busts in area history.

“It’s the largest seizure that I’ve seen in Albemarle County for marijuana plants in my 20 years of law enforcement,” said Sgt. John Baber of the Jefferson Area Drug Enforcement task force.

On Monday, officers from JADE, the Virginia State Police and the Fluvanna County Sheriff’s Office raided a house at 7851 Blenheim Road, a few miles outside Scottsville.

Authorities uprooted 4,412 marijuana plants from a garden behind the house. State police estimate the street value of the plants at about $4.8 million, or $1,110 per plant.

The plants range in size from tiny seedlings to 9-foot stalks. The monetary estimate reflects the value of the plants at maturity, Baber said.

Authorities would not say what led them to the marijuana plants, citing an ongoing investigation. Additional charges are likely, Baber said.

During the search, police also seized four guns and a half-pound of packaged marijuana from the house.

Gary Peck, 51, was arrested and charged with manufacturing marijuana with intent to distribute. He also faces a firearms charge. Peck, who lives at the Blenheim Road house, was held Tuesday at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail.

About 20 officers spent 12 hours Monday pulling the marijuana plants from a small garden behind the house and packaging them as evidence, Baber said.

The plants were growing in a patch about 10 feet by 10 feet, which was surrounded by bamboo, according to Carol Townsend, an Albemarle police forensic technician who was among the officers at the scene Monday.

Afterwards, the plants were sent to Albemarle police headquarters, where Townsend stored them as evidence.

“Tomorrow I’ll come in and rotate it to make sure it’s drying OK,” Townsend said Tuesday, looking at the mass of plants spread across the evidence room floor.

With that much marijuana - the most Townsend has seen in her five-year career - special care has to be taken to avoid having the plants mold or decompose before they can be used as evidence.

“We’re obviously not a professional dope-drying facility,” she said, “but we do the best we can.”


Newshawk: SX420 - 420Girls.com
Source: 420Times.com
Author: Rob Seal
Copyright: 2006 Media General
Contact: rseal@dailyprogress.com
Website: http://www.dailyprogress.com