$18 million worth of marijuana seized in massive grow house bust, investigators say

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ga. — Investigators in northeast Georgia busted a massive marijuana grow house operation Friday and nabbed $18 million worth of high-grade marijuana.

The Franklin County Sheriff's Office and the Appalachian Regional Drug Enforcement said they executed a search warrant where they found what they called "a sophisticated grow operation."

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Investigators said that a chicken house that been transformed into a grow house was filled with 3,500 marijuana plants and over 100 pounds of finished product, some of which was in vacuum-sealed bags and ready for distribution. Investigators estimated the street value at $18 million.

Officers said the chicken house had been cut up into several rooms that contained marijuana plants in various stages of growth.

“The entire operation was operated by an automated lighting, watering, and air filtration systems. The equipment alone costs over $100,000," the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. "This operation also had a cultivation room where the plants were dried, pruned, and put through a screen sifter to separate the marijuana buds from any waste.”

Guojian LI was arrested and charged with manufacturing marijuana and was transported to the Franklin County Detention Center.

Cox Media Group