Cannabis Cultivation Raid Leads to Arrest of Doctor and Others

An Alabama Optometrist and others have been arrested after police raided their 350 plant grow operation and extraction lab in Tennessee.

JEREMY JACKSON of WHNT Reports: 2 Alabama residents, including Russellville optometrist, arrested in THC extraction lab investigation in Tennessee

"WAYNE COUNTY, Tenn. — An illegal marijuana operation in Tennessee was shut down by multiple law enforcement agencies.

If you drove down Highway 13 in Wayne County, Tennessee, just one mile past the Alabama state line, you might not have noticed the building hidden behind a 10-foot privacy fence. The building is where authorities from multiple agencies put a stop to what they're calling a "major grow operation."

Drug agents with the Wayne County Sheriff's Office, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and 22nd Judicial Drug Task Force conducted a raid at the THC extraction lab Wednesday afternoon.

They found around 350 marijuana plants, most measuring 6-feet in height. One drug officer told our sister station, WKRN, it's the most elaborate and sophisticated grow house he's seen in his career.

The building was divided into more than 5 sections for different stages of cultivation. Part of the operation was used to make vape sticks and another was for traditional bagged marijuana.

Two arrests have been made so far. They are 45-year-old Stuart Marc Greenberg of Muscle Shoals and 36-year-old Alisa Lynn Balentine of Sheffield. Greenberg is an optometrist and has a practice in Russellville.

Both he and Balentine are charged with manufacturing marijuana concentrate using hazardous substances, two drug violations, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Greenberg has bonded out of the Wayne County Jail while Balentine remains."