Officials found an estimated $30,000 in drugs.
John Corriveau (Source: Lawrence County Sheriff)TRINITY, AL (WAFF) -
A Lawrence County man is behind bars after authorities found a major marijuana grow operation in his backyard.
Authorities said they found an estimated $30,000 in marijuana at the Trinity home Wednesday.
The Lawrence County Drug Task Force said they received information that there may be a possible grow location at the house. They used a Morgan County helicopter to fly over the site where they were able to confirm there were drugs in the backyard.
Officers from several agencies converged on the house around 6 p.m.
"This operation has been going for some time," said Lawrence County Sheriff Gene Mitchell. "We are a little bit late here. I think a lot of it has already been harvested. But that aside, we are going with what we got here that we actually found, but I think it's been a larger operation."
Authorities believe the pot farmer had a lot more plants than what they discovered Wednesday night.
Mitchell said they uprooted about a dozen pot plants, and he believes there may have been maybe more than 200 there at one time.
"It's an ongoing thing. We're going to work him as hard as we can. If he goes back to it now, we're going to catch him because we know he's a grower," said Mitchell. "I don't look for this same fellow to go back to growing. Not at the same location anyway."
Investigators from different counties worked together to make this bust. Now they'll push ahead to see if they can match this case with any pot that may have gone to local dealers.
42-year-old John Corriveau was charged with felony drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia. He is in the Lawrence County Jail on an $11,000 bond.
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