243 Pounds Of Pot Found Inside Cherokee County Home

CANTON, GA — Five people were indicted earlier this month by a Cherokee County grand jury on charges related to the discovery of more than 200 pounds of marijuana inside a home in a Macedonia neighborhood.

Defendants Crystal Anita Hurt, Stanley Peter Hurt and Hailou Menelec Merrick, all of Canton, were all indicted on one count of trafficking in marijuana, according to Cherokee County Superior Court records. Fellow defendants Nelson Edwin Arriola of Jonesboro and Forest Park resident Orlando Arriola were also indicted on one count of possessing marijuana with intent to distribute, those records show.

According to warrants, Cherokee Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad agents on Feb. 20 discovered about 243 pounds of marijuana inside a home in the 400 block of North Hampton Trail, which is off Highway 20 east of East Cherokee Drive in the Hampton Station subdivision. The warrants also accuse both Orlando and Nelson Arriola of possessing roughly eight ounces of marijuana they allegedly planned to sell.

(For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here)

Walter Jones, deputy commander of CMANS, said the agency was tipped off by "several residents" in the neighborhood who were concerned about the smell of marijuana coming from the house.

"CMANS receives these types of tips on a regular basis, and it is our mandate to follow up on each and every one," he said.

While carrying out this investigation, Jones said agents unearthed a network of alleged weed distributors with ties originating from "Mexico through California, to Atlanta into Cherokee County, out to North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Tennessee and Texas," he noted.

The North Hampton Trail home was used as a stash house, or a home where a significant amount of drugs is stored.

"It is not uncommon for drug trafficking organizations to select rental houses in quiet communities to set up these stash houses," Jones said, adding the street value of the marijuana seized was about $1,500 per pound.

Jones told Patch the five defendants charged in connection with the drugs found in the stash house have ties in the aforementioned states and details discovered through the investigation have been passed on to authorities in those jurisdictions.

It appears the marijuana removed from the house "more than likely" came from Mexico by way of California where it was distributed to other states using services such as FedEx and the United States Postal Service, the deputy commander notes.

Arraignment for the defendants is scheduled for 9 a.m. Thursday, May 31 in Courtroom 2D at the Cherokee County Justice Center.

Image via Shutterstock