Police find poppy plants

MOSES LAKE — Two Moses Lake residents and an Ephrata resident were arrested Friday after police searched two houses finding poppy plants and marijuana.

The Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team, comprised of officers from Moses Lake, Quincy, Ephrata, Washington State Patrol and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, conducted a six-month investigation leading to searches of two homes Thursday and the arrests of three people.

The first house was on A Street in Moses Lake. Detectives allegedly purchased rock cocaine and marijuana from Valinda G. Otis, 28, Moses Lake, and Tommy C. Stokes, 23, Moses Lake, according to Grant County Undersheriff John Turley.

Both were booked into the Grant County Jail on charges of unlawful possession of narcotics with the intent to distribute.

The amount and value of the seized drugs was unavailable, according to the sheriff’s office.

The second house was located on Martin Road Northwest, south of Ephrata. Officers reportedly found 15 mature marijuana plants and four 13-gallon bags of mature poppy pods, according to the sheriff’s office.

This could be Grant County’s first known indoor grow operation for opium, according to Turley.

Police estimate the marijuana’s value at $22,500 and the value of the poppy plants was unspecified.

William P. Helfrich, 56, Ephrata, was booked into Grant County Jail on two counts of illegal manufacture of narcotics, according to the sheriff’s office.