HARTSVILLE, Tenn. — A home built above a large cave that once housed a sophisticated underground marijuana operation may have a delicious — and legal — future.
Authorities seized the home in 2005 after finding more than 850 marijuana plants growing under lights in two 100-yard-long underground rooms in a natural cave connected to the home.
Roth Kase USA Ltd., a Wisconsin-based maker of European- style cheeses, won the property with a bid of $285,000. The company’s auction representative, Chuck Olson, hinted about the future of the cave. He said the cave’s new operation will be legal “in a tasty way.” Caves, with their consistent cool temperatures and humidity, have long been used to age cheeses.
Fred Strunk, the previous owner of the home, was sentenced to 18 years in prison last year on charges of growing marijuana, money laundering and theft.
The Associated Press
