CLAYTON – An alleged marijuana grower tried hard to hide his presence here, authorities claim.
But once a borough policeman spotted a suspicious structure behind a vacant home, evidence against the suspect grew like a weed, says a court filing that seeks to seize the property as part of a drug investigation.
Jason Bacon, a 35-year-old Ocean County man, is accused of running a “large-scale” marijuana grow in a home and greenhouse on property he owns at 1111 North Delsea Drive in Clayton.
An April 26 raid at the site netted about 40 marijuana plants and multiple plastic bins “each containing several pounds of marijuana,” the forfeiture complaint says.
It notes more suspected marijuana, a loaded gun and $818 were confiscated during a separate raid at Bacon’s home on Laurel Brook Drive in Brick, Ocean County.
But police began digging into the alleged weed farm in January, the filing notes, when a Clayton officer on patrol noticed a greenhouse concealed by green camouflage wrap behind a home.
“A large amount of firewood and logs” were stacked on one side of the house, which is flanked by forested land, it adds.
Behind that barrier was a “taller makeshift fence,” also wrapped in green camouflage.
“It appeared that the person or persons who constructed the suspected greenhouse used extreme caution to conceal (it) from public view,” the filing says.
Within a short time, the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office had contacted its counterpart in Ocean County, alerting law enforcement officers there to its suspicions about Bacon.
Records from Clayton’s water utility showed the house, although unoccupied, was using almost 200 gallons of water per day — about 18,000 gallons between September and November 2017.
Investigators also learned the site had used up to 17,646 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month. That’s well above the U.S. average of 897 kilowatt-hours per home in 2016, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.
The state’s filing also contends Bacon paid about $34,500 for gardening, lighting and other supplies between January 2016 and January 2018. It says that included a delivery of almost 6,400 pounds of “fertilizing compound dry” to the Clayton address in July 2017.
The filing also says Bacon received no municipal approvals to build the greenhouse, a roughly 2,000-square-foot structure with “large commercial-sized exhaust fans … to promote clean and fresh air flow and help prevent excessive moisture.”
The forfeiture complaint, filed Monday by the state Attorney General’s Office in Superior Court in Woodbury, argues the Clayton property was used “in furtherance of unlawful activity.” It contends Bacon used “illegal proceeds” when he bought the property for $74,000 in April 2015.
The state also wants to seize more than $6,000 from Bacon’s bank accounts.
Its complaint notes Bacon, a former restaurateur, last filed state and federal income tax returns in 2011.
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office on Monday announced Bacon and an alleged accomplice, 31-year-old Kim Christopher of Toms River, are charged with maintaining a drug-manufacturing facility and other drug and weapons offenses.
Bacon faces individual charges in connection with the Clayton raid. They include maintaining a fortified structure during a drug offense.
Bacon was being held Tuesday in Ocean County Jail.
Christopher, who was not mentioned in the forfeiture action, was released after her arrest.
Credit: courierpostonline.com
