How much is 900 pounds of marijuana worth? $4 million, say SC cops who confiscated it
Nearly 900 pounds of “high-grade” marijuana was confiscated by South Carolina law enforcement after a multi-million-dollar drug bust, the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office said, according to a WCSC report.
Two men were arrested in the Dec. 21 bust involving 896 pounds of marijuana, which the sheriff’s office valued at “around $4 million,” WCIV reported.
Joseph Francis McLaughlin, 48, and David Thomas Barber, 41, were arrested after the sheriff’s office’s Narcotics Task Force learned “suspicious ground freight” was “shipped to an industrial warehouse in Hanahan,” according to WCBD.
The sheriff’s office said a search of the warehouse led to the discovery of the marijuana, which was confiscated along with a “1999 Ford F350 Dually pickup truck, a Ruger LCP .380 handgun, and $3,120” in cash, per WCSC.
McLaughlin was charged with “trafficking marijuana (100-2,000 lbs.), possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a violent crime, and possession of ammunition by a person convicted of a violent crime,” WCIV reported.
He was also arrested in Charleston County on charges of trafficking marijuana and methamphetamine, according to records with the Al Cannon Detention Center. His $40,000 bond for those charges, filed on Jan. 5, was posted.
Jail records show Barber was charged with trafficking marijuana (100-2,000 lbs). Barber remains behind bars at the Berkeley County Detention Center, where his bail was set at $200,000.
This story was originally published January 15, 2019 at 5:41 PM.
