A 58-year-old Arkansas man was arrested Tuesday afternoon after more than 30 marijuana plants and more than 20 guns were found on his property, authorities said.
Tom Brian Sedlacek of Gamaliel faces multiple drug and weapons charges after spotters in a helicopter observed marijuana plants growing on his northern Arkansas property, according to a Baxter County sheriff's office news release.
When searching for Sedlacek, officers reported finding signs on the property warning that trespassers would be shot. They also found a shooting range and an outbuilding containing more marijuana plants, authorities said.
Authorities found 30-40 marijuana plants, 24 guns -- including a sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun with a homemade pistol grip -- as well as plastic baggies of processed marijuana, 562 methadone pills, and 16 acetaminophen and oxycodone pills, the release said.
Sedlacek told authorities that he had been growing marijuana since 1992, according to the sheriff's office.
Sedlacek was taken to the Baxter County jail and held on charges that include manufacture of a controlled substance, two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, criminal use of a prohibited weapon, and terroristic threatening, the release states.
He was released after paying a $50,000 bail and is to appear in court Sept. 20, authorities said.
The Army National Guard, Federal Drug Enforcement Agency, 14th Judicial Drug Task Force, Arkansas State Police, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and the Baxter County sheriff's office worked together on the operation, the release said.
State Desk on 08/31/2018