CARTHAGE — Franklin County deputies followed their noses Friday afternoon when they smelled marijuana at a residence at 805 Carthage Road. After obtaining a search warrant, they discovered a growing operation and seized 74 pot plants, each about 4 feet tall, Lt. Niles Yeaton said Tuesday.

Deputy David Rackliffe and Detective David St. Laurent were investigating a recent burglary and theft of a rifle from a neighboring seasonal camp, Yeaton said. The two were canvassing the area and knocking on doors to see if anyone heard anything or saw anything or knew anything about the burglary, he said.

When they knocked on the door of the Carthage Road residence, “all they could smell is growing marijuana,” Yeaton said. “Apparently no one was home.”

Rackliffe used a laptop to write up the information for a search warrant and e-mailed it to Sgt. Steve Lowell, who then transferred the information to the District Attorney’s Office for a search warrant. The warrant was obtained within an hour from when the deputies first smelled the marijuana, he said.

Once inside the residence, six deputies “discovered a grow room, outfitted with high energy lighting, fans and a carbon filtering device being used to grow 74 marijuana plants,” he said.

They also seized some processed marijuana along with growing books and assorted drug paraphernalia, including digital scales and smoking devices, he said.

The marijuana has been dried and will be transferred to the state health and welfare laboratory in Augusta for a certified weight and to confirm the plants and processed weed seized is marijuana, he said.

“We’re thinking it weighs somewhere over a pound,” Yeaton said. If it is between a half pound and a pound, the charge would be considered a misdemeanor, and if it is more than a pound and under 20 pounds, it would be a felony that carries up to five years in prison.

The investigation is ongoing and charges are expected when the owner is located, he said.

Deputies know who lives at the year-round residence, he said.

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