State police seek Newtown pot grower Newtown mine: Authorities uproot largest marijuana cultivation operation in years

NEWTOWN -- It used to be a place to mine sand and gravel, but now authorities want to know out who was going there to get stoned, as well.

State and local police yanked more than 200 marijuana plants out of the ground on Button Hill Road last week. They also

unearthed information they hope will help identify those involved in the illegal farming operation, state police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said Wednesday.

"This is the time of the year when cultivation takes place. We've gotten a few of them (pot farms), some large and some small," Vance said. "This was a large operation."

Police used an all-terrain vehicle to haul away the plants.

Vance declined to say how the Statewide Narcotics Task Force discovered the farm, but he noted state police routinely use techniques ranging from tips to aerial surveillance to ferret them out.

According to Newtown police, three local officers were dispatched to 9 Button Shop Road to assist state police on the morning of July 21.

The address is listed to D'Addario Sand & Stone Co. Inc., but Vance said investigators haven't yet determined who owns the land where the plants were being grown. The area once was the site of several sand and gravel operations.

A message left on the company's answering machine wasn't returned Wednesday.

The Newtown site was the largest marijuana cultivation operation uncovered by police in recent years, according to a search of The News-Times archives.

In December, state and local police busted an indoor marijuana farm at a New Milford home, arresting four residents and seizing about 30 plants.

Contact John Pirro at jpirro@newstimes.com or 203-731-3342.