NORWAY — A fourth person suspected of cultivating marijuana in a rented Norway house was arrested Wednesday after visiting her boyfriend at the Auburn jail.
Alma Barberena, 26, of Florida, remains in the Androscoggin County Jail on two counts of cultivating marijuana and $1,000 bail.
Previously arrested on marijuana cultivation and trafficking charges were Brian Scott Jordan, 27, of Suwanne, Ga.; Jeb J. McWade, 27, of Maryland; and Julian Alexander Pendas, 25, of Miami, Fla. The Norway Police Department arrested the three July 28 after serving a search warrant at a rented home at 39 Salinitas Drive off Route 118 near the Responsible Pet Care animal shelter. The officers found numerous pieces of cultivation equipment, including fans and watering systems set up on timers, and 255 marijuana plants.
Other items found included pipes, books and magazines on marijuana, sandwich bags and packaged marijuana. Police also seized two vehicles believed to be used in trafficking marijuana.
Officer Theron Bickford of the Norway Police Department said Barberena was in Florida visiting relatives when the search warrant was served.
“We can establish that she was there while the marijuana was growing,” he said. Bickford said police received word that Barberena would be visiting Pendas, her boyfriend, in the Androscoggin County Jail on Wednesday. “When she walked in to visit him, they arrested her for us,” he said.
Lt. Dean Perry of the Yarmouth Police Department said Jordan and Pendas were charged with marijuana cultivation in May after a traffic stop found one-and-a-half pounds of marijuana, some cultivating equipment and $1,836 in their vehicle. A search of their residence in Freeport uncovered 134 marijuana plants and drug paraphernalia.
Bickford said Pendas and Barberena were also out on bail on marijuana trafficking charges in Illinois.
mlangeveld@sunjournal.com
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