YOUNG WARD, Utah, March 1, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — A Cache County man who asked police to come over and help him get his brother out of the home ended up leading officers to 69 marijuana plants, 28 pounds of dried marijuana, and drug processing paraphernalia on the premises.
Cache County Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Peterson said Benjamin W. Benavidez, 28, asked the deputy to stand by on Friday while he asked his brother, Samuel S. Benavidez, 24, to leave the residence.
“While the deputy was there, he smelled a strong odor of marijuana on Samuel,” Peterson said.
The deputy asked for permission to search the house, which was granted, and he spotted the marijuana plants.
The Cache-Rich Drug Task Force returned later with a warrant, which allowed it to remove plants, grow lights, seeds, boxes of butane and acetone that could be used for synthesizing the marijuana, and ovens.
Jensen said it appears the men were aware of the danger of gas in the air, because they had covered electrical outlets with duct tape to reduce the chances of sparks, and had a simple ventilation system in place.
Both men were arrested and booked into the Cache County Jail on Friday night, and have since bailed out.
Benjamin was booked on suspicion of a number of felony possession, production and intent to distribute charges. Samuel was booked on suspicion of possessing felony marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
