May 26 (UPI) -- Catawba County, N.C., sheriffs officials said a man immediately admitted he was growing one acre of opium poppy plants to a deputy who knocked on his door investigating another case.
Cody Xiong of Claremont, 40 miles north of Charlotte, was charged with manufacturing a Schedule II drug and opium trafficking, each a felony. The sheriffs office reported the man was growing $500 million in opium poppy plants on his property.