Houlton man charged with growing marijuana in mother’s home

HOULTON, Maine — A 24-year-old Houlton man was arrested Monday for unlawful trafficking of marijuana after police were tipped off by his mother.
Philip Salb was arrested Monday evening and taken to Aroostook County Jail, where he remained Tuesday afternoon. Salb was also charged with cultivating marijuana.
    According to Houlton Police Chief Butch Asselin, at 8:48 p.m., Houlton police officer Stewart Kennedy was sent to 10 State St. after a woman discovered her son was cultivating marijuana in her basement. Earlier that evening, the woman, who was not identified, had gone into the basement and discovered “ziplock” bags filled with marijuana in a black duffle bag that was being stored inside an unused dog kennel.
The woman contacted her son and informed him that she was contacting the police. Salb returned to the residence and removed the duffle bag before police arrived. He reportedly left in a black 1995 GMC Sonoma.
“Upon arriving at the residence, officers Kennedy and Richard York went into the basement and discovered what appeared to be a marijuana growing operation,” Chief Asselin said. “Officers located 29 small marijuana plants in a container, a growing light, plant pots with potting soil in them, several small plastic baggies and a timer.”
Later that evening, Officer Kennedy had phone contact with Philip Salb, who reportedly indicated that he was growing the marijuana at the State Street residence in order to raise money for his mother’s property taxes. Salb allegedly admitted to having the black duffle bag, but indicated that only his clothes were in it. Officer Kennedy made arrangements with Salb to come into the police department so that he could show Officer Kennedy that the only items he had in the black duffle bag were, in fact, his clothes.
“When Salb came to the police department, the clothing in the duffle bag were for a person much larger than Salb’s 5-8, 165-pound frame,” Asselin said. “Officers detected a strong odor of marijuana emanating from the bag.”
During further investigation, the officers located the missing bags of marijuana hidden in a black garbage bag in the back yard of a Park Street resident. Salb reportedly asked the Park Street resident to hide the marijuana for him. This individual placed the marijuana in the black garbage bag.
That person has also been charged, but the actual charge was not known by presstime as the investigating officer was unavailable.
Salb has an anticipated court date of Jan. 18, 2012. Officer Kennedy estimated the weight of the seized marijuana exceeded two pounds.