Credit: Falls Township police
The green leafy plants growing in the woods off Lower Morrisville Road in Falls Township caught the eye of the New Jersey National Guard members flying in a helicopter overhead. Upon further investigation, the plants were found to be part of a marijuana growing operation, according to law enforcement officials.
Falls Township police and Bucks County Detectives were alerted in spring to the alleged drug grow by the New Jersey National Guard member who observed the marijuana from the air during routine flights as part of the unit’s stateside drug efforts.
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Falls Detective Sgt. Chris Clark contacted the Pennsylvania National Guard Counterdrug Unit and secured a helicopter ride over the alleged marijuana growing operation in the 200 block of Lower Morrisville Road.
“Once we were positioned about the area, we observed the same large outdoor marijuana grow operation,” Clark wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.
Credit: Bing
In August, Clark and Bucks County Detective David Hanks entered the “extremely wooded area” off Lower Morrisville Road and observed the outdoor marijuana grow location. On the scene, they observed several empty gallon water bottles, gardening tools, spray bottles of insecticide and a trash bag covering various items. Photographs and a small sample were taken from the location, police said.
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Field testing of the plant sample turned up positive for marijuana, court records state.
Twice in September investigators returned and observed signs of changes at the grow site, obtained various items to be used for DNA and installed a trail camera, police said.
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Within days, the trail camera picked up images of a male subject at the site. The images were submitted to a Bucks County list and identified by a corrections officer and a state trooper, according to court records.
In October, police encountered the suspect in Doylestown and obtained DNA samples from him, court papers state.
Credit: Falls police
The suspect captured on the trail camera image and whose DNA was obtained from samples at the grow site was identified as Daniel Santos, 33, of Falls.
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Police said they collected 24 pounds of marijuana from the wooded grow site.
Santos was charged with various drug offenses and jail on 10 percent of $950,000 bail.
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Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.
