SWANS ISLAND – A local man is facing multiple criminal charges after police found marijuana growing in buckets in his backyard, according to the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency.

Darrell O. Crandall, division commander for MDEA, wrote Tuesday in a prepared statement that MDEA agents found about 40 to 50 buckets containing marijuana plants when they executed a search warrant Tuesday at the home of Stephen Green. The search warrant was obtained after MDEA received a tip about the alleged drug cultivation at Green’s Staples Road home, Crandall indicated.

After receiving the tip, agents posing as bowhunters took the ferry from Bass Harbor to Swans Island last week and made observations of Green’s property from the woods behind his home, according to Crandall. The agents saw paths that led directly from the buckets to Green’s house.

Tuesday’s subsequent search turned up 30 grams of marijuana, 2 grams of cocaine worth $200, 45 unlawfully possessed hydrocodone tablets worth $450, and other related but unspecified evidence, Crandall indicated in the release.

Green, 52, was arrested on charges of cultivation of marijuana, possession of cocaine and furnishing hydrocodone, according to MDEA. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison.