
NEW SHARON — Police from several local, state and federal agencies searched a home last week on Industry Road where they said they found evidence of a “large marijuana grow.”
In a weekly bulletin released to the media, Franklin County Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. said Detective David Davol had been investigating the home for at least six months. It revealed that the home had two 200-amp meters for electrical service, often a sign of a grow operation, according to the bulletin.
That allowed Davol to secure a search warrant, which was executed Friday at the home with the assistance of multiple officers from the Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and members of the Office of Cannabis Policy.
The New Sharon Fire Department and the town code enforcement officer were also there.
Police seized evidence from the home, although it was not disclosed what it was.
“The house was secured, searched, items within were associated with a large marijuana grow and were documented,” Nichols wrote in the bulletin.
The sheriff did not list the address of the house, saying the investigation was ongoing. However, a resident familiar with the area said the home is a two-story farmhouse at 210 Industry Road.
There was no word on whether arrests have been made.
Police around the state have been investigating large marijuana grow operations in several areas.
In January, police raided seven illegal weed operations in central Maine, arresting six people and seizing over 6,000 marijuana plants after local authorities said they were tipped off by the U.S. Attorney General’s Office about unlicensed grow operations.
Those arrests were made as the state’s congressional delegation has renewed calls for the Department of Justice to “crack down on illegal Chinese-run marijuana operations in Maine,” which they say are worth about $4.37 billion and could include upward of 270 residences.
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