Search yields marijuana plants
Posted on Friday, August 10, 2007
BENTONVILLE - Benton County Sheriff's Office deputies searched Thursday on the ground and from the air for marijuana plants.
The effort is part of a statewide drug-eradication program provided by grant money from the U. S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the Arkansas State Police.
The Benton County Sheriff's Office's drug task force and drug interdiction unit, along with Metco Helicopters Inc., participated in the search, according to Doug Gay, public information deputy for the BCSO.
Three plots of marijuana were located in an area east of Yell Cemetery and Littrell roads, east of Siloam Springs, Gay said.
A pilot, along with BCSO investigator Charlie Robinson, spotted the plots, which contained about 16 marijuana plants, and some were as tall as 12 feet, Gay said. The air crew directed ground units to the plots, where additional investigators uprooted and transported the plants to the Sheriff's Office for disposal, Gay said.
According to DEA estimates, the value of the plants is $ 16, 000, or $ 1, 000 per mature plant.
Law-enforcement agencies conduct the drug-eradication program once a year and utilize aircraft to spot contraband, hidden in remote locations, from the air.
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