10 Year Old Grow Discovered

Wilbur · 12-10-2006, 11:26 PM

After more than three days, police yesterday finished packing plants and equipment found in a small factory on Newell Pond Road where marijuana may have been grown for as long as 10 years, police said.

"We've secured the evidence," said Sgt. William Gordon last night.

More than 400 plants were taken from the building where, based on records found, marijuana had been grown for years without drawing attention of police, the community or even neighbors, Gordon said.

A tipster's call that a drug deal had gone bad and someone may have been hurt brought the department's special operations unit to the building at 62 Newell Pond Road early on Wednesday morning.

Securing a warrant, police were inside the building and their vehicles secreted when one of the owners, Donald R. Hale, showed up and was arrested.

Hale, 50, of Ashburnham, was released on $20,000 bail after pleading innocent to growing, possessing and trafficking in marijuana charges in Greenfield District Court on Wednesday.

According to records, the property is owned by Little Dog Realty Trust, with Hale as a trustee.

The city assessors have put a value on the property, including the building and 2.7 acres, at $187,000. The two-story building, erected in 1950, had previously been used for, among other things, a carpet cleaning business and the growing of bean sprouts.

There were four large rooms filled with plants of various sizes. The operation used lights and heat, and had coated the walls with reflective material that increased the light and heat reaching the plants, police said.

The preliminary value of the marijuana was put at $200,000. Some of the plants had matured and grown to a height of 10 feet, Gordon said.

Found with the plants were records which defined the processes used, Gordon said. On the walls were written dates, showing that growing had been going on in the building for as long as 10 years, he said.

The police are focusing on processing evidence, including drying the marijuana plants so they do not deteriorate and become unusable for court proceedings.

Newshawk: User - 420 Magazine
Source: MassLive.com
Pubdate: 9 December 2006
Author: DAVID A. VALLETTE
Copyright: 2006 MassLive LLC.
Contact: dvallette@repub.com
Website: MassLive.com