Deputies discover elaborate marijuana growing operation
Lawmen plucked 872 marijuana plants from a ravine at Hills Creek Thursday, discovering an elaborate irrigation system amidst the neatly kept patch.
“This is one of the most elaborate patches we’ve come across in some time,” said Sheriff Jackie Matheny. “They had a real nice irrigation system and the field was better maintained than what we usually see.”
The field was spotted from the air Thursday by the Sheriff’s Department Marijuana Eradication Team which was conducting one of several flying missions it routinely does each growing season. The patch was easily seen from the air because its neat layout in a clearing cut amid the remote location in Hills Creek. The remoteness caused some problems for the ground team, sent in with pickups and four-wheelers to seize the plants, as the officers had to traverse a steep ravine to reach the patch.
Once in the patch, officers found a network of soaker hoses amid the neatly laid out field which boasted 872 plants ranging in height from three to five feet.
“That’s going to hurt somebody,” said County Commissioner Bill Yancy, who joined the eradication team on the mission.
There were no arrests and no apparent suspects as the team’s first goal is generally to eradicate the fields, thereby landing an economic blow to marijuana producers in this area.