FruityBud
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From a few plants hidden in a backyard garden to hundreds of them disguised inside a cornfield, Indiana State Police Trooper Kim Wall uncovers all sorts of marijuana growing operations from her seat aboard the department's Bell 206B helicopter.
Flying across Southwestern Indiana at speeds up to 80 mph and at an altitude generally below 1,000 feet, Wall and pilot Sgt. Andy Clark scour the land below for the illegal plants.
The outdoor growing season will draw to a close in the coming weeks, but Wall said efforts this year already have uncovered an estimated 400 marijuana plants valued at about $1,000 apiece cultivated in Vanderburgh, Warrick, Gibson, Pike and Knox counties.
The job which also takes Wall up in Cessna planes when the helicopter works in other districts requires a lot of surveying from high above while distinguishing one form of vegetation from another.
But it doesn't end there. Once a marijuana patch is spotted, Wall and Clark land often in the suspect's yard or a neighboring plot.
If he's there, the pair will confront the suspect, ask about the marijuana and may make an arrest before seizing the plants. Wall said suspects in such situations usually are surprised the police came down from the sky.
But it's the only way authorities can keep track of marijuana growing in backyards, side gardens, farm fields and other hidden-from-view areas.
"People just don't really think those are the places we look," Wall said. "Well, we look everywhere. When you're in the air, there is no place that is safe."
Wall has been leading the marijuana eradication team in the Southwestern Indiana district for nearly a decade a period that has included countless large- and small-scale busts and arrests.
The job is rewarding, Wall said, because she believes marijuana is a gateway drug, the first step toward serious drug abuse. When the helicopter takes off with a cargo of marijuana plants it can hold up to 500 pounds Wall said it's gratifying to know those drugs are coming off the street.
"My satisfaction comes from maybe I've gotten that out of the hands of someone who hasn't gotten into drugs yet," she said.
Clark, who is in his 21st year in the state police air section and recorded his 2,500th hour piloting the helicopter Friday, said there are other perks to the job.
One is the chance to get behind the wheel of the copter: "Flying is fun," he said with a smile. "There's no two ways about that."
But another motivator is knowing the work not only gets drugs off the street, but it can support police work. The drugs themselves are destroyed, but Clark said other evidence or property from offenders often is seized as part of plea agreements.
The money then makes its way back to authorities.
"A lot of the things you see on this aircraft were purchased by the bad guys," Clark said recently, shortly after landing at the post with a handful of marijuana plants found in Warrick County. "They were purchased by the dope growers so we can go out and find more dope growers. Isn't that kind of neat?"
So far this year, the biggest bust locally has been a plot of about 200 plants in Gibson County. Several years back, Clark said, he helped uncover 5,000 plants in eastern Indiana.
One of the most memorable cases locally happened in Posey County two years ago, Wall said. She and Clark spotted a man parked in a field, apparently cultivating marijuana planted there.
The helicopter landed in the roadway, blocking him in, and Wall arrested him at gunpoint as he tried to get away.
"There can be (excitement)," Wall said. "But the excitement is short-lived."
That's because once the arrest is made, there's substantial paperwork to be filled out and filed. And the plants have to be uprooted, stored in the helicopter and taken to another location to be destroyed usually that same day.
That brings Wall to one of the most frequently asked questions she gets from people curious about her work.
Yes, they burn it. No, they don't enjoy it or derive any sort of hallucinogenic effect from the fumes.
"We don't sit around and sing 'Kumbaya' when we burn it," she said with a laugh. "I dump enough diesel fuel on there that that's about the only thing you smell diesel fuel ... it's not a pleasant thing to do. It doesn't smell good."
hxxp://tinyurl.com/3ztsud
Flying across Southwestern Indiana at speeds up to 80 mph and at an altitude generally below 1,000 feet, Wall and pilot Sgt. Andy Clark scour the land below for the illegal plants.
The outdoor growing season will draw to a close in the coming weeks, but Wall said efforts this year already have uncovered an estimated 400 marijuana plants valued at about $1,000 apiece cultivated in Vanderburgh, Warrick, Gibson, Pike and Knox counties.
The job which also takes Wall up in Cessna planes when the helicopter works in other districts requires a lot of surveying from high above while distinguishing one form of vegetation from another.
But it doesn't end there. Once a marijuana patch is spotted, Wall and Clark land often in the suspect's yard or a neighboring plot.
If he's there, the pair will confront the suspect, ask about the marijuana and may make an arrest before seizing the plants. Wall said suspects in such situations usually are surprised the police came down from the sky.
But it's the only way authorities can keep track of marijuana growing in backyards, side gardens, farm fields and other hidden-from-view areas.
"People just don't really think those are the places we look," Wall said. "Well, we look everywhere. When you're in the air, there is no place that is safe."
Wall has been leading the marijuana eradication team in the Southwestern Indiana district for nearly a decade a period that has included countless large- and small-scale busts and arrests.
The job is rewarding, Wall said, because she believes marijuana is a gateway drug, the first step toward serious drug abuse. When the helicopter takes off with a cargo of marijuana plants it can hold up to 500 pounds Wall said it's gratifying to know those drugs are coming off the street.
"My satisfaction comes from maybe I've gotten that out of the hands of someone who hasn't gotten into drugs yet," she said.
Clark, who is in his 21st year in the state police air section and recorded his 2,500th hour piloting the helicopter Friday, said there are other perks to the job.
One is the chance to get behind the wheel of the copter: "Flying is fun," he said with a smile. "There's no two ways about that."
But another motivator is knowing the work not only gets drugs off the street, but it can support police work. The drugs themselves are destroyed, but Clark said other evidence or property from offenders often is seized as part of plea agreements.
The money then makes its way back to authorities.
"A lot of the things you see on this aircraft were purchased by the bad guys," Clark said recently, shortly after landing at the post with a handful of marijuana plants found in Warrick County. "They were purchased by the dope growers so we can go out and find more dope growers. Isn't that kind of neat?"
So far this year, the biggest bust locally has been a plot of about 200 plants in Gibson County. Several years back, Clark said, he helped uncover 5,000 plants in eastern Indiana.
One of the most memorable cases locally happened in Posey County two years ago, Wall said. She and Clark spotted a man parked in a field, apparently cultivating marijuana planted there.
The helicopter landed in the roadway, blocking him in, and Wall arrested him at gunpoint as he tried to get away.
"There can be (excitement)," Wall said. "But the excitement is short-lived."
That's because once the arrest is made, there's substantial paperwork to be filled out and filed. And the plants have to be uprooted, stored in the helicopter and taken to another location to be destroyed usually that same day.
That brings Wall to one of the most frequently asked questions she gets from people curious about her work.
Yes, they burn it. No, they don't enjoy it or derive any sort of hallucinogenic effect from the fumes.
"We don't sit around and sing 'Kumbaya' when we burn it," she said with a laugh. "I dump enough diesel fuel on there that that's about the only thing you smell diesel fuel ... it's not a pleasant thing to do. It doesn't smell good."
hxxp://tinyurl.com/3ztsud
