Officials seize $3.5 million in marijuana in Rabun County

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By Mashaun D. Simon

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Rabun County Sheriff’s Office along with the Georgia Bureau of Investigations seized more than $3.5 million in marijuana plants last week.

John Phillip Langley has been charged with manufacturing marijuana and trafficking marijuana.

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Rabun County Sheriff’s Office About 700 marijuana plants valued at $3.5 million were seized from a Rabun County residence.

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Rabun County Sheriff’s Office The bust occurred in the 1600 block of North Germany Mountain Road in Rabun.

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Rabun County Sheriff’s Office A 100-foot underground tunnel led to the marijuana operation, officials said.

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Approximately 700 plants were seized, according to officials. Agents from several law enforcement entities assisted in the bust, including the Narcotics Criminal Investigation and Suppression (N.C.I.S.) Team, the GBI’s Regional Drug Office, the A.T.F., the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the Georgia National Guard Counter Drug Task Force.

The bust occurred in the 1600 block of North Germany Mountain Road in Rabun on Thursday. Officers had been investigating the underground, “marijuana grow” operation for two months.

They found two Conex box trailers connected end-to-end buried in a 100 foot underground tunnel hidden by a utility building. They also found large amounts of money and a stolen Georgia Power electrical transformer used to steal power from Habersham EMC to supply the needed electrical power.

John Phillip Langley was arrested. He is charged with manufacturing marijuana, trafficking marijuana, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and theft by receiving for a stolen F-450 pickup truck and a Bob Cat backhoe.

Langley is being held at the Rabun County Detention Center. Additional arrests are possible, said officials said, and the investigation is continuing.