South Toms River suspect charged with running pot farm & factory

A patch of grass - the illicit kind - in a stretch of woods in Lacey Township lands a South Toms River man behind bars on suspicion of running a marijuana production facility.

Brian Keough, 33, was arrested Wednesday at his Dover Road house, where police say a search revealed 25 marijuana plants, cultivating and packaging equipment, grow tents, grow lights, seeds, fertilizer, scales, and a quantity of already-harvested plants.

Lacey police said they had been monitoring the spot in their township and homed in on Keough, finally gathering enough supporting data to obtain a search warrant. The house sits opposite South Toms River Elementary.

Police said that Keough was the subject of a criminal warrant in South Toms River and a traffic warrant in Toms River.

Lacey detectives charged him with a first-degree count of maintaining and operating a controlled dangerous substance (CDS) facility; a second-degree charge of manufacturing and possessing with intent to distribute; a third-degree charge of possession and intent to distribute within 1,000 feet of a school; and a fourth-degree count of possession of more than 50 grams of marijuana.

Keough was placed in the Ocean County Jail in Toms River in default of $150,000 bail set by Superior Court Judge James Blaney, police said.