Duplin County:

TWO-TON POT BUST VALUED IN MILLIONS

Deputies with the Duplin County Sheriff's Office made what they
believe is the area's biggest marijuana bust in recent history when
they discovered a 10- to 15-acre pot farm off Old Camp Road, about
nine miles west of Wallace, early Sunday morning.

The marijuana recovered so far, which weighed in at 4,160 pounds, has
a street value of about $9.9 million, said Duplin County Sheriff Blake
Wallace. And that number was likely to grow as deputies continue their
recovery work today, he added.

"I don't recall a bust this big in southeastern North Carolina in my
time," said Sheriff Wallace, who worked for the State Bureau of
Investigation for 11 years before he became the Duplin sheriff in
2002. "We think we've gotten most of it, but we'll fly the area with a
helicopter tomorrow," Sheriff Wallace said.

The bust was the result of an ongoing investigation and a tip from a
concerned citizen who called the Sheriff's Office late Saturday
evening. Deputies went to the location about 2 a.m. Sunday and said
they found themselves in fields of pot plants, some as tall as 13
feet. Upon penetrating the fields, deputies found three huts where
someone had lived, probably those tending the pot fields, Sheriff
Wallace said. "We found sleeping bags, cook tops, cell phone chargers
and chemicals to keep insects and deer away from the plants," he said.
They did not, however, find booby traps or evidence that the keepers
of the pot farm would have had dogs to protect their harvest, Sheriff
Wallace said.

It will be a few days before the more than two-ton pot pile goes up in
smoke, Sheriff Wallace said.

"We won't burn it until we have made sure we got all of it and
conferred with the DA's office to make sure they have all they need to
make a successful prosecution if and when we make an arrest," he said.
Duplin deputies had not made any arrests late Sunday night, but had
some suspects, Sheriff Wallace said. Ownership of the land was not
known at press time.

"We are hoping to get higher up in the organization than just those
who tended these plants," he said.

While the bust had yielded no arrests yet, there was still reason to
celebrate, Sheriff Wallace said.

"Anytime you can get this amount of dope off the street it's a big day
for us," Sheriff Wallace said.

The Wallace Police Department, along with the Sampson County and Wayne
County sheriff's offices, assisted Duplin in the bust.