249 Pounds of Marijuana Found in Joppa Drug Bust: Sheriff

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — Based on a tip that a Joppa man was selling large amounts of high-grade marijuana in and around Harford County, authorities surveilled the situation and have charged the man and his girlfriend with intent to distribute a large amount of drugs and seized thousands of dollars' worth of items.

Harold Junior Morris, 28, of the 2000 block of Mountain Road, and his live-in girlfriend Sherrie Lyn Miller, 26, were arrested after search warrants were executed at their residence and a nearby storage facility during the first two weeks of January, according to the Harford County Sheriff's Office.

The couple was charged with possession with intent to distribute a large amount of marijuana, possession of marijuana and possession of drugs other than marijuana (mushrooms). Both were released on $50,000 bond and are awaiting trial, the sheriff's office said in a statement Friday.

Investigators reportedly found 249 pounds of marijuana, with an estimated street value of $1.1 million, in the storage facility linked to the couple in the 900 block of Pulaski Highway.

According to the sheriff's office, Morris and Miller received marijuana from California at the facility, where they then stored and packaged it. Multiple digital scales, a money counter, heat sealer and 2007 Toyota Highlander were reportedly found at the facility.

Law enforcement seized $185,000 in cash at the Mountain Road residence and in bank accounts, and took the following items into evidence as a result of the raid at the home of Morris and Miller:

• 2008 Mercedes Benz C300
• 2011 Jaguar XF sedan
• 2014 BMW motorcycle
• Two Honda watercraft and trailer
• Two large four-wheel ATVs
• One off-road motorcycle/dirt bike
• High-value women's jewelry and handbags
• Flat-screen TVs

“This is a significant seizure of marijuana that will no longer make it to the streets of Harford County and into the hands of the most vulnerable of our citizens—our youth,” Harford County Task Force Captain Lee Dunbar said in a statement.

“We know through the vast amount of data we collect on our heroin overdose investigations, almost 80 percent of our heroin overdose victims advised they started using marijuana at an early age, most between the ages of 12-15, and believed it was a gateway drug," Dunbar said. "Marijuana is a dangerous drug, not just a harmless or victimless recreational drug.”

Officials involved in the drug bust included DEA agents, Baltimore County police officers; Harford County sheriff's deputies; and the Harford County Drug Task Force, which is made up of the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, Maryland State Police, Aberdeen Police Department, Bel Air Police Department, Havre de Grace Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Harford County State's Attorney’s Office.

Photographs courtesy of the Harford County Sheriff's Office.