Harnett Lawmen Find $12 Million Marijuana Operation
For a second time this summer, the Harnett County Sheriff's Office has found a large marijuana growing operation in woods in the western part of the county.
An aerial search located about 5,000 plants in 11 plots of land about three miles from Broadway, officials said Monday. Some of the plants were more than 6 feet tall.
The find has an estimated street value of $12 million,
according to Maj. Gary McNeill of the Sheriff's Office.
In addition to the plants, deputies found a camp site with tents and enough food to support six or seven people at a time.
The plants are being removed and destroyed with the assistance of the N.C National Guard.
The operation is similar to one that was found off Womack Road in June. Officials would not say Monday whether there was a connection between the two cases.
Deputies last month found 35,000 marijuana plants with an estimated street value of $84 million.
The plants, ranging in height from 1 foot to 4 feet, were watered from a nearby creek with a homemade irrigation system that consisted of between 700 and 800 feet of garden hose. Two crude huts had been built for caretakers.
The plants were being grown on 10 acres that had been re-seeded after trees were cut for timber, Sheriff Larry Rollins has said.
No charges have been filed in either case but both finds mirror a trend, linked to large Mexican drug rings, that is growing in the western United States, Rollins said.
Similar operations have been set up in national parks, he said.
http://www.istockanalyst.com
Join us on the Canna Zine cannabis forums and have your say.
Cannabis News 
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form