MARIJUANA SPOTTED IN THREE COUNTIES Police Air-Support Unit Sees Bright Green Drugs Growing Near A School Most law enforcement agencies would think the marijuana growing season is over, but two Stark County sheriff's deputies have the proof that it isn't in Stark, Summit and Portage counties. On a routine maintenance run with their OH6A Cayuse reconnaissance helicopter, Red Horse Aviation partners Herman Valentine and Joe Gild found growing areas near Atwater, Ravenna, Barberton, Norton, Magnolia and Plain Township yesterday. Red Horse is a law enforcement air-support unit based at the Akron-Canton Regional Airport. The pair and National Guard friend Ed Porter barely were in the air when they spotted, landed and removed 100 plants, worth $1,000 each, in a field of 10-foot high brush just south of Barr Elementary School, off 47th Street Northeast in Stark's Plain Township. ``We had just gotten into the air on our usual 14-day maintenance check when this area of bright green just jumped out at us near Barr School,'' explained Valentine. He and Gild have flown reconnaissance drug missions for area law enforcement agencies for several years, both through the National Guard and now with their own agency. The bright green marijuana plants stand out now because the corn and other plants shielding the drugs all summer are now brown, said Stark Sheriff Timothy A. Swanson. ``It's very easy to find at this time of year. It's almost fluorescent,'' Swanson said. The Red Horse team turned the plants over to sheriff's Inspector Steve Ready and Canton Detective Sgt. Ronald Shank, who are in charge of the Stark Metro Narcotics Unit. Their officers will try to determine who owns the property where the marijuana was found and who was cultivating the field, Swanson said. Red Horse authorities said they will contact law enforcement officials about the other areas where marijuana was spotted to assist in its removal.
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