Marijuana found from helicopter

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Uprooted: From left, pilot John Black, deputy Danice Taylor and Sheriff Jackie Matheny stand next to marijuana plants discovered this week from the sky. (Charles W. Johnson photo)

Lawmen went deep into the sticks Monday to seize a significant patch of marijuana spotted from the air during a sheriff’s department flying mission.

“We seized 252 plants, ranging from two to eight feet in height,” said Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Danice Taylor, who spotted the patch from aboard the department’s helicopter. “It’s been a bit slow for a while, but since the rains returned recently, we’re seeing more plants spring up.”

The plants were seized from a field between Curtistown and Wash Roberts Road on Harrison Ferry Mountain. The Harrison Ferry Mountain area annually provides the largest number of patches for the marijuana eradication team due to the secluded nature of the mainly unpopulated mountainous region.

Taylor said just over 900 plants have been seized this season by the eradication team. Last year the team set an all-time record, seizing over 4,000 plants. The team has been flying since 1997 when the county was given two government surplus helicopters free of charge for use in the war on drugs. The team generally flies through September.