Police Seeking Resident After $2 Million Worth of Marijuana Found in Stoneham Home

Police are seeking a 35-year-old man as a person of interest after $2 million worth of marijuana was found in a Stoneham home after a fire Wednesday morning.

Authorities are not releasing the man’s name at this time but have said he lives on the Hersam Street home’s second floor.

A U.S. Postal Service letter carrier on his way to work spotted the fire at 10 Hersam St. at about 7 a.m. Wednesday.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the flames; one firefighter suffered a minor injury and was treated and released from a local hospital.

Stoneham Police detectives were called to the scene after firefighters found the plants in the house. Roughly 480 marijuana plants were recovered after a search warrant was obtained, police said. The plants, in their lifetime, could have produced about 960 pounds of marijuana buds, according to police.

“This was a major, sophisticated drug producing operation that has been shut down today,” Stoneham Police Chief James McIntyre said in a statement.

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration Clandestine Lab Team assisted local police at the scene.

Investigators are still working to determine the cause and origin of the fire, police said.