Posted on 08/01/2004 1:04:59 PM PDT by Libloather
State Police Seize Marijuana Plants, Take DNA Samples
By Dina Kaplan
(CAMPELLSBURG, Ky., July 28th, 2004, 11:30 a.m.) -- State police found more than $200,000 worth of marijuana Tuesday, thanks to an unusually large batch spotted from a police helicopter. But because troopers are so aggressive in finding marijuana, the growers are getting much better at hiding it. WAVE 3's Dina Kaplan reports.
Besides a helicopter ride, finding weed in Kentucky involves offroading through an Old Country Farm, then a rough walk through the wilderness. That's because police say growers try to plant patches as far away from people as possible so they'll be hard to see and get to.
On Tuesday, a search turned up the equivalent of a gold mine for state police. In all, police found 100 marijuana plants worth about $200,000 on the street.
Of course, there's always the possibility of danger -- state troopers took a moment while our cameras were rolling to make sure we weren't being watched.
Troopers always that the grower is nearby.
"Someone's been here today," said Trooper Greg Larimore. Weeds were recently cut and the leaves were not wilted at all. "There's a good possibility the helicopter spooked them," Larimore says.
Convinced no one is nearby, the troopers cut and carrying off their loot -- 100 plants capable of producing one hundred pounds of marijuana.
"That's going to keep marijuana off our streets, keep it away from our kids," said Trooper Randy McCarty.
For three weeks each year, State Police in Campellsburg aggressively search for plants. The marijuana seized Tuesday would have most likely have ended up on the streets not just in Kentucky but around the region.
They are convinced the job is important but also becoming more difficult.
Growers are now better at finding out-of-the-way spots but police say the plant's dark color and their need for sunlight make them stand out. Lurking behind the facade of a forest, the marijuana detail says it can spot its target -- even one plant -- from the air or on foot.
Troopers now take DNA samples from each plant they find. That enables them to link one plant to dozens or even hundreds of others. If someone is arrested five years from now for growing that first plant, police could make a case that the same person was responsible for a much larger crime, and possibly take the case to federal court.
Online Reporter: Dina Kaplan
Technology, dood...
Any defense attorney worth a nickle would make mincemeat out of that argument.
One hundred plants? Are you kidding me?? State Troopers pulled up 891 plants from two patches near Danville West Virginia last thursday and friday.
I was with them two years ago when they eradicated 1400 plants from one mountainside.
And as for catching people in the act, they seldom do. About the only time cops ever catch a grower is if someone stumbles on 20 plants on someone's back porch.
It's amazing the breeding and selection that has gone into marijuana - dwarf plants that grow under lights, that produce an enormous number of flower buds, whose active substances have been multiplied I don't know how many times - I think I may have figured out how to solve world hunger - we could make rice or corn illegal...and see what the breeders do...
Mrs VS
Visions of a stained blue dress come to mind!!!
Someone forgot to make their contribution the the LEO retirement fund.
LOL! I've seen plants growing along Texas hwys. People throw the seeds out the car window.
No...I don't have any locations.
FMCDH(BITS)
That's hard to believe.
Do you have directions to these millions of plants?
you could smoke it till you pass out from smoke inhalation and you won't get high.
not only that, but every year people from out of the area get caught cutting it and jailed as if it were good weed!
live and learn
WOD Resistance Tip # 2 - Plant Your Seeds
HAHAHA
That means literally MILLIONS of DNA samples - no?
Wow after all those trips, wasting lots of gas they finally found some plants that they can't pin on anyone. Well at least the chopper pilots had fun.
Heh, and IIRC, states spend somewhere along the lines of tens of million dollars a year eradicating this ditchweed.
*sighs and wishes he could get one of those great government boondoggle jobs someday* </sarcasm>
Isn't capitalism amazing?
What is amazing is that they can spot one plant from a
moving helo, but Islamix terrorists walk across
our borders all the time.
When is some genetic engineer going to figure out how to get kudzu to produce THC?
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