TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has been accused of growing thousands of poppies at his north-central Kansas home in order to manufacture heroin, authorities said Monday.
A federal indictment charged Matthew Pfeiffer, 43, Morganville, with attempting to manufacture opium, manufacturing thebaine (a constituent of opium) and using a telephone in furtherance of drug trafficking, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said in a news release.
The indictment said the investigation began after federal and Riley County authorities received a tip that Pfeiffer was growing poppies for heroin at his Clay County property. Law enforcement agents seized more than 4,000 poppy plants during a raid on June 4, 2020, authorities said. The poppies were identified as Papaver somniferum, a plant from which opium is derived.
