KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C. — The Kings Mountain Police Department charged a man with trafficking marijuana after discovering an indoor grow operation in a downtown business on Feb. 19.
Investigators seized nearly 168 pounds of processed marijuana and approximately 20 dried plants from Ole Skool Hemp on Battleground Avenue.
Police say the investigation was launched after receiving tips regarding suspicious activity inside the business. People said the store owner often showed off his hemp plants.
Dustin Ray Spake was charged with trafficking marijuana and maintaining a dwelling, vehicle or place for controlled substances.
“Kings Mountain Police Department did several buys at this business using a confidential informant,” said prosecutor Katie Sawyer.
She said the informant used the right words to get illegal weed.
“Using terminology like ‘The good stuff,’” Sawyer said.
She said employees told police that Spake grew the plants here and told them that the plants would test “hot” meaning more impairing substance than the law allows.
“Sent everything that the confidential informant brought over the course of those several buys to a private lab and all of it tested above the legal limit,” Sawyer said.
The business was equipped with specialized cultivation equipment, including grow lights, irrigation systems, ventilation systems and fertilizers.
According to police, the grow operation itself was licensed and authorized under the USDA hemp program, according to North Carolina law. However, investigators determined the products processed and sold by the business had been altered, which rendered them illegal under state statutes.
Spake’s attorney said that can’t be right.
“He has a license from the United States Department of Agriculture to grow hemp,” said defense attorney Ben Scales.
He said federal agents checked to make his plants have less than 0.3% THC.
Spake’s attorney said plants at about 0.3% THC are not automatically illegal.
“Anything up to 1% is believed to be negligent as opposed to criminally culpable,” Scales said.
During the search, officials also uncovered potential electrical and fire hazards. These safety concerns were associated with unauthorized modifications found inside the building. The City of Kings Mountain Codes Division responded to the scene to address the hazards.
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