KENTUCKY — Authorities arrested a Franklin man following a drug investigation in Simpson County that they say uncovered a large marijuana grow operation and other illegal substances.
According to the South Central Kentucky Drug Task Force, agents executed a search warrant Monday at a home on West Cedar Street in Franklin. During the search, investigators said they found 25 marijuana plants, about 14 pounds of marijuana, firearms, a large amount of cash, psilocybin and multiple items of drug paraphernalia.
Officers took 57-year-old Michael Belcher of Franklin into custody at the scene.
Belcher faces charges of trafficking within 1,000 feet of a school; first-degree possession of a controlled substance (first offense); prescription controlled substance not in a proper container; trafficking marijuana (greater than five pounds, second offense – enhanced); cultivating marijuana (five plants or more, second or greater offense – enhanced); second-degree possession of a controlled substance (hallucinogen); possession of drug paraphernalia; three counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; and third-degree possession of a controlled substance (unspecified).
The Simpson County Sheriff’s Office, Franklin Police Department, Kentucky State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted in the investigation.
Authorities lodged Belcher in the Simpson County Detention Center. The investigation remains ongoing.
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