cannabisnews.com: Cops Find a Secret Pot Garden in Coventry!





Cops Find a Secret Pot Garden in Coventry!
Posted by FoM on July 14, 1999 at 13:02:22 PT
By Karalynn Kilpatrick
Source: The Chronicle Online
COVENTRY -- With a helicopter circling above the area, state and local police trampled through weeds and prickers, tripped on rocks and logs, and walked in the Willimantic River on Tuesday to reach the clearing where a bountiful crop of marijuana plants was growing.
Coventry police discovered the plants growing along the Willimantic River on the Mansfield/Coventry town line by accident while they were investigating the case of Eugene "Bear" Frommer, 58, of 28 Chestnut Trail in the Pine Lake Shores Association neighborhood.Frommer was arrested July 7 when police discovered about 100 marijuana plants growing in his residence. The new plants were found about a mile and a half away from Frommer's residence by Coventry police Officer Chris Fiore as he was circling the area in an unidentified helicopter.Tuesday's drug raid occurred at about 9:30 a.m. off Brigham Tavern Road in Coventry. Police found 35 marijuana plants in all.The raid was a joint effort between the Coventry Police Department, the Statewide Narcotics Task Force, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and Mansfield Resident Trooper Supervisor Sgt. Mike Darcy.Police Chief Beau Thurnauer, Lt. Walt Solenski, and Officers Hans Danielson, Chris Fiore, Tony Ochtera and Jeff Spadjinske from the Coventry Police Department were at the scene. An unidentified helicopter circled the area, with two unidentified DEA special agents and a pilot from Springfield, Mass.The marijuana plants, each with wire mesh around the stem to prevent damage by animals, were discovered at a clearing along the Willimantic River. Also found were plastic milk jugs used for watering, and plastic tarps.The plants ranged from 1« feet tall to 5« feet. The officers pulled the plants and wire mesh cages out of the ground and placed them into black plastic garbage bags."They were very nice, healthy, well-taken-care-of plants. This was the ideal place to grow the plants, near the water, in the sunshine and in an isolated area," Solenski said. Thurnauer said the plants were probably cultivated indoors during February and moved in April or May. "Someone put in a lot of time and effort, that's for sure," he said. Solenski said the street value of a full-grown marijuana plant is about $1,000 for a 5- to 6-foot-tall plant and about $500 for a 3- to 4-foot-tall plant.The DEA officer, who asked not to be identified, said cultivation of marijuana plants is big money. "One full-grown plant would produce about a pound of marijuana. Depending on the quality of the drug, a pound would go for about $1,000 to $5,000," he said. Thurnauer said the total street value of the plants confiscated Tuesday would be about $15,000. Solenski said the plants would be turned over to the Statewide Narcotics Task Force, which would most likely burn the plants. They are currently being held in an evidence locker in the police department at town hall. Thurnauer said that the investigation is ongoing.
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Comment #1 posted by Halle on January 05, 2001 at 19:00:50 PT:
Hahaha...
That guy, Beau Thurnauer, is my cousin...hahaha
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