Rural hemp farm allegedly covering for marijuana grow operation

By Logan Watson,

The Mirror-Exchange

 

A legal hemp farm operating on Caraway Hills Road between Trenton and Milan became the target of a Drug Task Force raid last week after a shipping company discovered a box that appeared to contain marijuana plants.

According to West Tennessee Drug Task Force Director Johnie Carter, the company contacted agents when one of several boxes intended for a residential address in Milan had broken open during shipping. Agents obtained a search warrant to search the boxes, where they discovered what appeared to be 1,200 marijuana plants.

Carter stated that the plants were destined for Hemp 2 Go, and preliminary field tests indicated that the plants were marijuana and not hemp.

“The plants contained approximately 1.6% THC, while the maximum allowed under Tennessee law is 0.3%,” Carter said. “As the plant grows from a juvenile into an adult, the THC levels increase.”

While serving a search warrant at the property, DTF agents and representatives of the Tennessee Department of Agriculture discovered evidence that suggested Hemp 2 Go was setting up warehouses to conduct indoor growing operations, including seedling plants and a burn pile which was still warm.

Agents were able to salvage approximately 50 plants, which also tested positive for marijuana, in various stages of growth from the burn pile.

Agents also recovered several pounds of butane honey oil, a concentrated form of THC. Further investigation found a number of different strains of marijuana being cultivated on the property.

Carter stated that Hemp 2 Go is licensed to have two outdoor hemp grows but is not licensed to conduct any indoor growing.

Carter said that the hemp plants on the two licensed plots were poorly maintained.

“Based on the investigation, the hemp plots were being used as a front for what was to be a large-scale indoor marijuana grow operation,” said Carter. “I’m glad we were able to disrupt it before these illegal plants made it to the schools and streets of Tennessee.”

Carter stated that Hemp 2 Go’s three owners are from Nashville and California.

Charges are pending, and the West Tennessee DTF has submitted a letter to the Department of Agriculture requesting the suspension of Hemp 2 Go’s license pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation.