ROCKY MOUNT, Va., Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Authorities in Virginia said they discovered a "sophisticated underground marijuana grow operation" in a shipping container that had been buried.

The Franklin County Sheriff's Office said in a news release the "sophisticated underground marijuana grow operation" was discovered as part of a joint investigation with Virginia State Police, Alcohol Beverage Control, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.


The grow room was found in a shipping container buried 10 feet underground, the sheriff's office said.

Investigators said they had to go down a 10-foot ladder and crawl through a 10-foot tunnel to reach the 40-foot-by-8-foot container.

The room contained marijuana plants, items for the manufacture of marijuana, multiple firearms, and "items consistent with manufacturing untaxed whiskey."

The sheriff's office said no arrests have been made, but the underground growing operation was found on a property belonging to a man and a woman.

"In my experience I have not seen anything as far as that underground, I've seen numerous other grows and operations of that sort but never underground so it was kind of unique in that aspect," sheriff's Capt. Paul Caldwell told WDBJ-TV.