A few calls to 911 reporting shots fired led to the arrest of two Chocowinity men, and the seizure of about $20,000 of high-grade marijuana.

At 10:30 p.m. Thursday night, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to home of Rolando Cariaga at 910 Carrow Road in Chocowinity, after several neighbors had reported shots being fired at the address.

“They knocked on the door, he answers and they smell a strong odor of marijuana,” said Capt. Russell Davenport.

That’s when the deputies called in the drug unit. Both Cariaga and another man present at the scene, Joseph Rice, 33, of U.S. Highway 17 South, were detained.

In the house, over 1,000 grams of marijuana was confiscated, $3,500 in cash, digital scales and a camouflage Point Blank bulletproof vest.

Also confiscated were nine firearms: five rifles, two shotguns and two pistols. One of the rifles had been reported stolen in Ohio in 2003, according to investigators.

According to drug unit members, Cariaga believed the wind from Thursday night’s storm was someone was attempting to break into the house and went outside to scare the intruder off by firing a few shots.

“He was shooting outside of the residence under the influence of marijuana,” Davenport said. “You know you get paranoid when you have $20,000 of marijuana in the house and you use it.”

Cariaga, 33, was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to sell and deliver, as was Rice. Cariaga has a court date pending for similar charges.

While the drug unit had received numerous complaints of Cariaga of suspicious activity at the Carrow Road address and done surveillance, it hadn’t panned out until Thursday’s calls to 911.