Lisa Marchesoni
Posted: Thursday, December 11, 2008 6:27 pm

Mark Lucas, Jody Bence and Christopher Linn Olander are suspects in a drug bust of a record breaking 90 pounds of marijuana.

Ninety pounds of marijuana, with a street value of more than $400,000, won’t be making it to the streets after Murfreesboro Police vice detectives confiscated the illegal drug from a car and home Thursday, a spokesman said.

The 90 pounds of marijuana, packaged in hermetically sealed bags, is believed a record amount seized in Murfreesboro. The marijuana was believed to be “BC Bud,” a high-potency marijuana originating in British Columbia, Canada.

“It’s a large scale,” said Maj. Clyde Adkison. “We don’t get more than $400,000 worth of marijuana very much.”

Suspects Jody Bence, 40, of Indianapolis, Ind., and Mark Pendleton Lucas, 22, and Christoper Linn Olander, 23, both of 3114 Bonard Court were charged with felony possession of more than 70 pounds of marijuana with the intent to sell and criminal conspiracy. Both Lucas and Olander were additionally charged with maintaining a dwelling for the purpose of selling drugs.

Vice Detective Jeff Keaton, with help from other vice detectives, began surveillance about 3 p.m. Wednesday outside Embassy Suites Hotel on Medical Center Parkway as part of an ongoing drug investigation, Adkison said. Rutherford County sheriff’s Interstate Crime Enforcement unit assisted in the case.

“He observed what appeared to be a drug transaction among three suspects,” Adkison said.

Detectives seized 30 pounds of marijuana from the car, he said. The investigation led to Lucas and Olander’s home where detectives searched their home.

“They found 60 more pounds of marijuana,” Adkison said, later adding, “This was obviously a large scale operation operating in the city of Murfreesboro.”

Detectives confiscated more than $10,000 cash, three televisions, electronics, two vehicles, a money counting machine, professional scales and a sealer to remove the air from the packages.

Adkison said he could not give details about the ongoing investigation.

Hearings for the suspects are pending in General Sessions Court.