The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office seized approximately 30,000 marijuana plants near Ellerbe Thursday. Pictured are, from left, RCSO Det. J.R. Smith, SRT members Laird Forester, David Honeycutt and Sgt. John Edwards. This was the second major seizure involving large outdoor marijuana growing operations in the county in the past month.
This is the second seizure of an outdoor marijuana field in the past month by the RCSO Narcotics Unit, whose investigators said the bulk of the plants were between two and three inches tall.
“Obviously, we’ve got a lot of marijuana growers who are targeting Richmond County because we have a lot of rural areas,” Richmond County Sheriff Dale Furr said Friday. “And this year looks like a good year for marijuana with all the moisture we’ve had, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see us make more of these arrests throughout the season.”
Julio Lopez, 23, and Maria Flores, 28, both of Capel Mill Road, Ellerbe, are facing felony counts of manufacturing marijuana and maintaining a dwelling to keep controlled substances. Lopez is also charged with a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest.
Bond for each was set at $500,000.
According to arrest reports, the RCSO Narcotics Unit received information on the growing operation and its location, and when lawmen arrived on the scene, Lopez ran into the woods.
He was later apprehended in a vehicle on Capel Mill Road.
Flores is listed as a U.S. citizen on her arrest report, while Lopez is listed as a Mexican citizen.
“The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Vice/Narcotics Unit would like to thank the county (Special Response Team) and other deputies who assisted us in this operation, as well as the North Carolina Highway Patrol’s Air Unit,” RCSO Det. Sgt. Robert Smith said Friday.
Smith and his partner, Det. Dan McInnis, were the first on the scene for the bust.
Other arrests reported by the RCSO include:
Josh “G.Z.” Gerald, 23, of Wheat Street, Rockingham, is charged with felony counts of breaking and entering and larceny after breaking and entering, as well as a misdemeanor counts of injury to real property and resisting a public officer.
His bond was set at $5,500.
According to arrest reports, someone called the sheriff’s office to report someone was busting through the wall of a business on Mill Road in Rockingham, and responding deputies found a hole in the wall behind the cooler and a long steel pole lying by the building.
Fingerprints were taken from the pole that was used to knock the hole in the wall, and the investigation led to Gerald’s arrest.
Clinton Young, 32, of Beaunit Avenue, Rockingham, is charged with felony counts of breaking and entering and larceny after breaking and entering.
He was given a bond of $25,000.
According to arrest reports, a home in Rockingham was broken into and a five-year-old male Yorkshire Terrier was stolen, along with electronics equipment, jewelry and hand tools.
Arrest reports published in the Richmond County Daily Journal are copied from local law enforcement records. Except for people injured in motor vehicle accidents or reportable deaths, victims including people, businesses and institutions and their addresses are not included as a matter of newspaper policy. Reports include both arrests and criminal summons such as citations. The Daily Journal lists them all as arrests. People charged are presumed innocent until determined to be guilty by a court of law.
Staff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 32, or by e-mail at pbrown@yourdailyjournal.com.
I'll save my applause for the Sheriff's Department after they bust the enormous prescription drug ring in this county. I'll clap and cheer when they use all their resources to take out the death dealers of this county.
I'm not sure what a relaive is, I guess you meant relative. I am a tax paying citizen who appreciates the effort of the sheriff's dept. on our behalf. I am proud of the work that they do on a daily basis. Seriously, not much to the investigation because 1 guy ran away? I guess you would see it that way, regardless that 2 are in custody, 1 who is an illegal citizen, and again, 30,000 plants off of the streets. ...You're welcome to your opinion, just as I am to mine. Again, no personal issue with you, just think that we should be more appreciative of the work that they do on a daily basis. You have no idea what they deal with day in and day out. My point is why take a good thing and turn it into another shot at the sheriff's dept.? A good day's work regardless of how it came about!
seems like you must be a relaive of one of these hard working officers. unfortunately you seem to be the one who doesn't know what she's talking about. you said the same thing i did in that they were told where to go and what to find (a tip) and the hard work you speak of was pulling the plants up. there's not much investigation or the guy would not have been able to run away.
Of course the plants didn't walk to the courthouse but then in the real world plants don't walk. you can defend the investigation done here but as for having the dope off the streets and out of our schools, some of us will hold back the praise for a job well done when the job is done.
So called investigation? You have no idea what you are talking about! Do you honestly believe that the police officers involved would have printed in the journal what their investigation tactics are? Sure, a reliable tip, but do you think the marijuana plants walked themselves in to the sheriff's office to be turned in, along with their growers? Get a life! These detectives had to go investigate the tip they received. These officers work hard and do a fantastic job! This was a big deal for the county to keep these plants from maturing! Instead of putting these officers down you should be grateful that this is 30,000 less plants that have the potential to make it to the streets and into our neighborhoods and schools.
before you and the daily journal go falling all over yourselves praising the police for this big find,read the report above and you'll see that this is just like all the other so called investigations -- someone told them where and what to find! they just went to where they were told and found what they were told to look for. Under those conditions anyone could have found the drugs, even the police.