Eradication team locates 2 more grow operations

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Photos: William David Bowen and David Michael Lekin

On the same day three individuals were arrested in eastern Baxter County and charged in connection with an alleged marijuana grow operation, two additional plots were reportedly located during the eradication effort.

According to probable cause affidavits filed Wednesday, a Midway-area man, 70-year-old William David Bowen, and a rural Mountain Home man, 74-year-old David Michael Lekin, have been arrested and charged with felony counts of manufacture of a controlled substance.

In the first case, officers with the Drug Enforcement Agency, Arkansas Drug Task Force, the Arkansas National Guard Drug Eradication Team and the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office were notified helicopter pilots had spotted approximately six potted plants in the Midway area.

Officers on the ground located the plants at the rear of a residence along State Highway 178 west of Midway last Thursday. The potted marijuana plants were reportedly on a concrete pad with a fence around the perimeter, with black plastic attached to the fence. The seven plants ranged in height from 4 to 6 feet.

Contact was made with the homeowner, later identified as Bowen, at the side door of his residence. Bowen allegedly told the officers he grew the plants because he suffers from glaucoma.

In the second case, helicopter pilots spotted approximately 12 or more marijuana plants near a residence along County Road 289.

The plants were reportedly found approximately 25 yards from Lekin’s residence, with a well-used trail leading to the grow operation.

Officers located 17 plants ranging in height from 3 to 6 feet tall. The plant roots were covered with burlap. A water hose with small tube watering tips lead to each plant from the residence.

Lekin was not a home at the time officers confiscated the plants.

Bonds for the two men were set at $5,000 each.

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