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Police seized more than 600 marijuana plants in a raid on an indoor growing operation in Maryville Tuesday.

Investigators with the 5th Judicial Drug Task Force carried out boxes of marijuana plants and paraphernalia from an apartment on Rhodwin Avenue. one of 14 apartments located in the corner of Rhodwin Place Condominiums.

Blount County Sheriff’s deputies and Maryville police officers assisted in the bust that revealed plants in all stages of growth in the apartment.

Investigators said all rooms of the apartment — including two bedrooms, a living room and kitchen — were filled with the plants, which included seedlings and mature plants. Row after row of the plants lined the rooms, with grow lights and lamps hanging above them.

Marian O’Briant, public information officer for the sheriff’s office, said 604 marijuana plants were seized and several pounds of processed marijuana were also taken from the residence.

“Additional bagged marijuana was also seized, along with a multitude of accessories used in the grow. The marijuana plants were found in several rooms of the apartment,” a sheriff’s office press release said.

Officers also rummaged through a Dumpster at the apartment complex which contained several small marijuana plants that had been discarded.

The street value of the marijuana could not be determined by investigators because the marijuana plants were in various stages of growth.

“The estimated street value of a mature plant is $1,000,” the press release said.
The task force has been investigating the case for about two weeks, according to information from the sheriff’s office.

“A search warrant was executed Tuesday afternoon after a Blount County Sheriff’s K-9 team hit on a scent around the outside of the apartment, and investigators recognized the odor of marijuana emanating from the apartment,” the press release said.

The residents were not at the apartment at the time of the search warrant. Two suspects were taken into custody late Tuesday afternoon, however the names of the suspects were not being released pending a Blount County Grand Jury indictment at a later date.

The owner of the apartment, Danny Williamson, said the unit has been rented by a man and woman in their 40s since December 2003. A neighbor at the complex described the residents as “quiet” and “clandestine.”

Rhodwin Avenue is located off of Cunningham Street, which is off West Broadway Avenue near the intersection at West Lamar Alexander Parkway.

During the course of the investigation, the task force was assisted by several other agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Maryville Police Department.

O’Briant said the investigation is continuing.