INDUSTRY — Two Industry men and two Farmington men face marijuana trafficking and growing charges after police broke up a drug operation in the two towns Tuesday night.
Drug agents seized more than 40 pounds of harvested marijuana at an Industry home and another 125 plants growing in a basement, according to the Maine Department of Public Safety. The street value of the marijuana was estimated by drug agents at more than $200,000.
Those arrested at 1121 Industry Road in Industry on charges of trafficking and cultivating marijuana were: Charles M. Correll, 50, who owns the home; Robert J. Sirois, 56, of 249 Seamon Road in Farmington; Eric C. Hall, 38, of 8 Times Square Road in Industry; and Matthew W. Hemingway, 45, of 422 Farmington Falls Road in Farmington, according to the arrest log at the Franklin County Detention Center in Farmington. They were each released on $250 cash bail the same evening and are scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 18.
Drug agents, Maine State Police, Farmington police and Franklin County Sheriff’s deputies served search warrants at Correll’s home in Industry and at Sirois’ home in Farmington, said
Maine Drug Enforcement Agency Supervisor Gerry Baril.
Drug agents and state police were conducting surveillance for about a half-hour to an hour at the Industry location, following a tip that Sirois had been harvesting in the area. He and others were clipping the plants at the farmhouse in Industry, Baril said Wednesday.
Sirois was seen carrying a large bag into the Industry residence. Police later discovered it contained harvested marijuana, Baril said.
Police suspect the plants were growing in the Industry area, and agents are actively seeking that location, Baril said. Anyone with information is asked to call him at 783-5334.
Officers said the marijuana found at Correll’s farmhouse in Industry had recently been harvested from an outdoor plot. Also found in the house were several pounds of marijuana buds drying in one of the rooms. In the basement of the house, agents found a marijuana growing operation with 125 potted marijuana plants growing under six high-intensity grow lights, police said. In addition to the marijuana, agents found a small amount of cocaine and evidence of recent use inside the home, they said.
In the search of Sirois’ house in Farmington, police discovered a quarter-pound of dried marijuana buds, suspected drug ledgers, cocaine residue and drug paraphernalia.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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