An Ocean County couple has been charged with running a drug manufacturing facility after authorities seized 38 marijuana plants and 5 pounds of weed from a greenhouse in Gloucester County, authorities said Monday.
Jason A. Bacon, 35, of Brick, and Kim Christopher, 31, of Toms River, were arrested Thursday after police searched Bacon’s Laurel Brook Drive home and a second residence 90 miles away in Clayton, the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
The marijuana plants and processed weed were found in a greenhouse outside a house on North Delsea Drive in Clayton, officials said. Investigators also seized THC wax, a loaded .25-caliber Beretta handgun and an undisclosed amount of cash, the prosecutor’s office said.
Both Bacon and Christopher were charged with the following at the conclusion of a four-month investigation:
• maintaining a drug manufacturing facility
• possession of CDS with intent to distribute
• possession of more than 50 grams of marijuana
After the home in Clayton was searched, Bacon faces additional charges of maintaining a drug manufacturing facility, possession with intent to distribute marijuana and maintaining a fortified structure during a drug offense.
The U.S. Treasury Department, the U.S. Postal Service as well as New Jersey State Police, Brick, Clayton, Pitman and Westville police assisted the Ocean and Gloucester county prosecutors’ offices in the investigation.
