The year’s first major marijuana harvest by county law enforcement officers occurred Thursday morning, near an abandoned trailer on Donaldson Road, north of Princeton.
Deputy Brock Thomas said the find came at about 11 a.m. Thursday, after he, Princeton Police Det. Eric Smith and Probation and Parole Officer Chris Holt traveled to that area to execute a search warrant.
Investigation led the officers to an abandoned trailer in the 1200 block of Donaldson Road. Inside the trailer, they found a small amount of loose marijuana in a cigar box. Several items of drug paraphernalia were also found inside the trailer, Thomas said.
A search of the surrounding property led to the discovery of 13 marijuana plants growing nearby.
Ten were found growing in a fencerow about 200 yards from the trailer, and three more were located in a barn about 500 yards away, he said.
Each plant had an estimated street value of $2,000, said Sheriff Stan Hudson, giving the haul a total value of $26,000, not including the value of the loose marijuana inside the residence. That marijuana, about 30 grams worth, was valued at $300.
The case remains under investigation.
“This is the third crop we’ve found this year,” the sheriff said.
The other two marijuana seizures were of younger plants in smaller quantities, found near the edge of some woods.
Community support and cooperation is essential to the department’s anti-drug campaign, he said.
“We always appreciate help from the community. Without their help, we wouldn’t be able to find the crops.”
Those with information about marijuana activity in the county should call the sheriff’s office at 365-2088. Any information supplied will remain confidential, Hudson said.
