Police: Cheltenham car stop leads to $1.9 million weed bust

A car stop and the sharp eyes of some Cheltenham police officers earlier this week led to the bust of a massive marijuana grow operation in the city's Olney neighborhood, police said Thursday.

Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Nathan J. Schadler said Cheltenham police stopped a car near the Cheltenham Mall on Tuesday and found a pound and a half of marijuana in the vehicle. Upon spotting burn marks on the hands of the passenger of the vehicle and dirt under his nails, Schadler said, the officers suspected that he may be linked to a grow operation somewhere.

Cops arrested that man, identified as Eugene Horsch, 31, of Philadelphia, and through a joint investigation, tracked down the grow operation at a house he owns on Chew Avenue near 4th Street in Olney, authorities said.

When cops served a search and seizure warrant at the house, they found 190 marijuana plants and 20 pounds of pre-packed weed valued on the street at $1.9 million, said Philadelphia Narcotics Unit Capt. Thomas Davidson.

Horsch, Davidson said, has four prior arrests for narcotics.