|
Tip leads to Kiowa County law enforcement harvest of 7,700 marijuana plants |
|
Written by Administrator
|
|
Friday, 18 June 2010 |
Tip leads to Kiowa County law enforcement harvest of 7,700 marijuana plants
By Robert Medley Oklahoman
Published: June 16, 2010
HOBART — Wet ground from heavy rains made pulling marijuana plants from the soil fairly easy on Tuesday, Kiowa County Sheriff Russ Tate said.
The plants came up so easily that 25 law officers were able to snatch 7,700 marijuana plants from several pot patches between Mountain View and Carnegie in northeast Kiowa County. The marijuana was estimated to be worth up to $3.5 million on the streets, Tate said.
He declined to reveal the exact locations of the fields because the case remains under investigation. No arrests have been made.
The plants have been destroyed, and law officers have some sore muscles from all the work, Tate said.
Tate said his office got a call Sunday about marijuana growing on a farmer's land that is under jurisdiction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Several law enforcement agencies — including the BIA, the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control and county drug task forces — worked quickly, he said.
The plants were found just south of a field where a year ago 1,750 plants were discovered. There were six patches growing again this week.
The patches were cultivated in rows with irrigation systems. There were tents were someone had stayed near the patches, Tate said.
No one has been arrested in connection with the pot found growing last year, he said.
"They are so hard to catch because they do their research," Tate said.
Mark Woodward, spokesman for the Bureau of Narcotics, said a full grown marijuana plant can produce a pound of pot worth up to $1,500 on the streets. The plants found in Kiowa County were not fully grown. Woodward said several other smaller operations are taking place in parts of southern Oklahoma this week as part of home-grown marijuana eradication efforts.
Tate said anyone with information about the marijuana plants can call (580) 726-3265.
http://www.newsok.com/tip-leads-to-kiowa-county-law-enforcement-harvest-of-7700-marijuana-plants/article/3468953
|
