FruityBud
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Sheriffs deputies busted the largest outdoor pot-growing operation in Madison County history on Saturday, Nov. 14, taking possession of $4 million in nearly mature marijuana plants.
Hunters pursuing rabbits stumbled onto the half-acre plot, located off Rosedale-Milford Center Road, and alerted the sheriffs office about 12:45 p.m.
Lt. Eric Semler of the Madison County Sheriffs Offices investigative unit went to the scene and was astonished to find a large-scale commercial cultivation with 4,000 plants each valued at $1,000.
The local landowner was unaware of the illegal activity on his property.
Located within a dense woods, the plot was hidden behind brushy breastworks that made the 4- to 7-foot plants nearly impossible to see from just a few feet away. It took chainsaws to clear a path into the area and all-terrain vehicles to remove the pot. The haul filled two pick-up trucks and a trailer. A make-shift campsite at the scene indicated a person lived on site and tended the plot by hand until about a month ago.
They probably stayed on the site until the marijuana started to mature, Semler said.
He characterized the operation as more sophisticated than those generally found locally with roots that run out of the county and probably out of state.
Semler said illicit growers probably trespassed into the woodland sometime this summer, hand-cutting trees to allow more sunlight and clearing brush to construct the barricade. Sometime in late August, they transplanted the marijuana and began tending their crop. They likely planned to harvest, dry and process the marijuana in coming weeks right in the woods where they grew it, Semler said.
This is a late crop, he noted. Normally, illegal marijuana is harvested before the first frost.
On Saturday, it took deputies and investigators from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification & Investigation about six hours to gather evidence from the scene and harvest the marijuana. They stacked the plants in piles of 20 before removing them. Crime scene investigators from the BCI&I are currently processing the clothing, food, tent, and camp stove taken from the woods. The Madison County Sheriffs Office took possession of the green plants.
Whether or not theres an arrest in the case remains to be seen. Semler said sources of these types of illicit activities are hard to trace. Saturdays bust marks the third largest marijuana-growing enterprise disrupted in Ohio in 2008-09, Semler said.
Sheriff Jim Sabin said the illegal planting represents a trend that started in Western states and is moving eastward.
Individuals clear a section of wooded area in a remote, rural area and live in tents while they tend the marijuana plants, Sabin observed. Then, they harvest the plants and move on.
hxxp://tinyurl.com/yevpt62
Hunters pursuing rabbits stumbled onto the half-acre plot, located off Rosedale-Milford Center Road, and alerted the sheriffs office about 12:45 p.m.
Lt. Eric Semler of the Madison County Sheriffs Offices investigative unit went to the scene and was astonished to find a large-scale commercial cultivation with 4,000 plants each valued at $1,000.
The local landowner was unaware of the illegal activity on his property.
Located within a dense woods, the plot was hidden behind brushy breastworks that made the 4- to 7-foot plants nearly impossible to see from just a few feet away. It took chainsaws to clear a path into the area and all-terrain vehicles to remove the pot. The haul filled two pick-up trucks and a trailer. A make-shift campsite at the scene indicated a person lived on site and tended the plot by hand until about a month ago.
They probably stayed on the site until the marijuana started to mature, Semler said.
He characterized the operation as more sophisticated than those generally found locally with roots that run out of the county and probably out of state.
Semler said illicit growers probably trespassed into the woodland sometime this summer, hand-cutting trees to allow more sunlight and clearing brush to construct the barricade. Sometime in late August, they transplanted the marijuana and began tending their crop. They likely planned to harvest, dry and process the marijuana in coming weeks right in the woods where they grew it, Semler said.
This is a late crop, he noted. Normally, illegal marijuana is harvested before the first frost.
On Saturday, it took deputies and investigators from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification & Investigation about six hours to gather evidence from the scene and harvest the marijuana. They stacked the plants in piles of 20 before removing them. Crime scene investigators from the BCI&I are currently processing the clothing, food, tent, and camp stove taken from the woods. The Madison County Sheriffs Office took possession of the green plants.
Whether or not theres an arrest in the case remains to be seen. Semler said sources of these types of illicit activities are hard to trace. Saturdays bust marks the third largest marijuana-growing enterprise disrupted in Ohio in 2008-09, Semler said.
Sheriff Jim Sabin said the illegal planting represents a trend that started in Western states and is moving eastward.
Individuals clear a section of wooded area in a remote, rural area and live in tents while they tend the marijuana plants, Sabin observed. Then, they harvest the plants and move on.
hxxp://tinyurl.com/yevpt62
