Lexington County, SC (WLTX) - Lexington County deputies have arrested two men they say are illegal immigrants who manufactured marijuana.
Officers arrested 32-year-old Laureno Orozco Gonzales and 28-year-old Pablo Hernandez.
Deputies say they were working undercover at 11 a.m. Friday outside Hernandez's home on Shealy Road. They say when they approched the place, Hernandez ran out of the home carrying 150 marijuana plants.
After he was taken into custody, officers say they found that the plants were stored in individual compartments filled with potting soil.
As deputies were at the home, they say Gonzales arrived. They say they arrested Gonzales because he conspired with Hernandez to get the plants to grow high-grade marijuana at an indoor drug operation.
Officers say they found several firearms in Hernandez's home.
Deputies say after Gonzales and Hernandez were arrested and booked at the county jail, correctional officers who enforce federal immigration laws at the Detention Center under the supervision of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement determined that Gonzales and Hernandez illegally had entered the United States from Mexico.
Federal agents are investigating whether Hernandez should face federal charges for illegally possessing the firearms.