Thursday, August 12, 2010
Giles Co. drug bust yields marijuana, firearms
A Newport man was charged in what the sheriff says is one of Giles County's largest busts in years.
About 4 pounds of dried marijuana and 73 outdoor plants were found at the home of Darrell Linden Porterfield, who was charged with possessing marijuana and manufacturing marijuana. Also found were seeds, grow lights, starter trays, potting soil, precision scales and vacuum storage bags.
The judge's bench was topped by three large bags of dried marijuana, so pungent the Giles County sheriff got a headache from standing nearby.
The loot -- about 4 pounds of dried marijuana, 73 plants and about 120 guns -- was seized last week during a bust that resulted from an annual marijuana eradication program.
"We didn't have any idea what we would find," Sheriff Morgan Millirons said. Deputies with the sheriff's office and officers with the town police departments within the county, the Virginia State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives searched the home Aug. 4 after a single marijuana plant was spotted from a National Guard helicopter, he said.
As a result, a Newport man has been charged with possessing marijuana and manufacturing marijuana, Millirons said.
Darrell Linden Porterfield, 54, was charged Aug. 5 and released from the New River Valley Regional Jail on bond, Millirons said.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for October in Giles County General District Court -- the same place used to display the guns and drugs taken from Porterfield's home on Cave Hill Road, off Mountain Lake Road.
More charges are pending, Millirons said. He said Porterfield will likely be charged with possessing firearms while in possession of more than a pound of marijuana.
There are two residences on the property, Lt. Eric Thwaites said. One is Porterfield's home; the other is an old home that has been converted into a woodworking shop. It housed a marijuana-growing operation, Thwaites said.
Seeds, grow lights, starter trays, buckets of potting soil, precision scales and vacuum storage bags were found, Millirons said.
There were no smoking devices or other indicators that the marijuana was grown primarily for personal use, he said.
Two all-terrain vehicles, hand grenades, cash and coins were also taken, Millirons said.
Thwaites estimated the value of the guns at $25,000 to $30,000.
"These are not the typical guns you would buy at Walmart," Thwaites said. Many are custom-made, he said, and a few are worth about $2,500 apiece.
"We've got some here that are top-notch firearms," Millirons said.
A judge will later determine what happens with the guns, which are now kept as evidence. They could be turned over the sheriff's office to auction off, Thwaites said.
Millirons said it was the largest bust the sheriff's office has seen in a couple of years.
"It was an 18-hour day for us processing this," Thwaites said.
