The suspected grow operation at 89 Central Street in Foxborough. Photo: Courtesy Foxborough Police
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A fire led to an unexpected discovery for the Foxboro Fire Department early Wednesday morning. The fire department responded to reports of smoke in the building at an apartment complex on Central Street at about 5:00 AM on Wednesday.
When all of the residents had been evacuated, firefighters said they discovered what appeared to be a cannabis grow system in the basement of the apartments as they were knocking down the fire. After getting a search warrant, Foxborough Police said they discovered about 200 marijuana plants, heat lamps, and an irrigation system. A search of the building turned up molds used to make edibles, and a substance which police think is fentanyl.
About a hundred pounds of marijuana and another suspected grow house were found in a different apartment in the building, police said. Current market value of an ounce of cannabis would mean the hundred pounds are worth about $574,000.
The building owner, Donald Corliss III, is being charged with possession of a Class A drug, possession of a Class D, and reckless endangerment to a child.
He was in Wrentham District Court today, where a judge set bail at $5,000 and scheduled a pretrial hearing for Feb. 15, according to WBZ-TV.
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