Muscogee County sheriff's deputies seized more than 50 pounds of marijuana and 18 ounces of cocaine last week from the home of a Columbus parolee, a cache of drugs law enforcement officials said would be worth more than $250,000 on the street.

Spencer Bernard Hardison, 42, was charged with trafficking marijuana and cocaine, two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and violating the terms of his parole, Sheriff John Darr said at a news conference Tuesday.

Assistant Chief W.J. Rutland of the Columbus Parole Office said parole officers had learned recently that Hardison, who has twice served prison time for drug-related convictions, had begun selling drugs again. He said a parole officer who visited Hardison's home noticed a firearm in plain view, which prompted authorities to apply for a search warrant.

Darr said deputies, with the help of the K-9 unit, found drugs throughout Hardison's 5822 Windham Court home.

When you have this kind of amount, you know he.s trafficking, Darr said. .Our community needs to know that we.re going to be very, very aggressive in dealing with the drug problem that we have.

Divided into dozens of plastic bags, the marijuana covered the surface of one table and part of two others Tuesday afternoon as sheriff's officials displayed the drugs during the news conference.

It shows what can be done and what we can accomplish when we have agencies working together,. Darr added. Hardison was paroled from prison in May 2007 after serving about four years in prison for possessing and distributing marijuana, court documents show. He served six months in 1996 for distributing cocaine and possession of marijuana.