Police bust pot-growing operation in quiet neighborhood

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police in north Charlotte said they found a marijuana-growing operation in a not-so-expected place -- a quiet upper-middle class community off Mount Holly-Huntersville Road.

A search warrant said officers learned about the grow operation after deputies in Chester County, South Carolina raided a similar operation there.

When they knocked on the door of the house on Coach Wood Court, the search warrant said officers noticed the smell of marijuana and after the man living there gave them permission to search, they found marijuana plants and packaged marijuana with an estimated street value of $100,000.

They also found ventilation duct work, electrical wiring and other evidence of a grow operation.

"The neighborhood where this particular residence was located in is one where we have a very good crime watch program," said Lt. Brian Foley, who supervises the area of north Charlotte where officers found the drugs.

Foley said a quiet neighborhood like that is the perfect place for drug manufacturers and traffickers to avoid suspicion and neighbors were stunned when officers showed up.

"(We) never suspected a thing. Everything was a surprise to us," said a neighbor who lives two doors down.

Another neighbor, Dexter Snead, said he saw officers take enough evidence out of the house to fill two trucks.

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