State Highway Patrol troopers doing aerial reconnaissance Monday spotted a utility shed near Scotland Neck that was surrounded by marijuana plants. Halifax County deputies later inspected the site and found a sophisticated marijuana-growing operation inside, authorities said.
"(There were) big lights for growing plants, for different sizes," Halifax County Sheriff Jeff Frazier said. "(It was) full of chemicals and different literature on how to grow things, and we find hundreds of buds and small plants of marijuana."
The 12- by 16-foot shed also was climate-controlled to improve the growing conditions, Frazier said.
"Somebody knew what they were doing," he said.
William Keeter, 51, of 6069 Douglas Hill Farm Road in Scotland Neck, has been charged with manufacturing marijuana, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and maintaining a dwelling for drug purposes in the case, authorities said.
Deputies destroyed the marijuana plants and seeds, which authorities said had a street value of nearly $1 million. But they loaded the shed on a flatbed truck and hauled it to the county courthouse, where they plan to keep it in case it's needed as evidence in a criminal trial.
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