OFFICERS FIND MARIJUANA FIELD

Deputies Round Up Big Harvest After National Guard Pilot Saw Half-Acre Crop
In Edgefield County

JOHNSTON, S.C. - Edgefield County sheriff's deputies, with the help of
a National Guard helicopter pilot, discovered a half-acre marijuana
field just a few miles from the Aiken County line Thursday afternoon.
Edgefield Sheriff's Capt. Roger Lowe said Jose Navarro-Pena, 50, and
Filiberto Valdez-Covarrubias, 42, both of Ridge Spring, were arrested
and charged with trafficking in marijuana.

The cleared site, tucked about 150 yards into a wooded area next to
Titan Peach Farm on Mount Calvary Road, contained 765 plants,
sheriff's officials said. Edgefield County Sheriff Adell Dobey
estimated the value at almost $1 million.

Authorities said the marijuana was easy to spot from
above.

"The marijuana foliage has a distinct color to it," Capt. Lowe said.
"(And) for it to be successfully grown, it needs a clearing."

The plants were dug up by the roots, and some will be destroyed. The
remainder will be retained as evidence. The plants grew in two spots
near a small creek that police say growers used for irrigation.

Sheriff Dobey said he was unsure what the roles of the two arrested
men might be. Deputies arrested the workers after searching a nearby
home where police found several garden hoses, Capt. Lowe said.

Capt. Lowe said officers also raided a house in the 1300 block of
McCreight Road and found marijuana inside.

After the crop was discovered, officers cut through the overgrown
surroundings. In addition to the plants, they found long wooden sticks
gathered next to yellow rope, tools that Capt. Lowe said indicated an
upcoming harvest.

Capt. Lowe said some of the plants already had been harvested and the
tallest ones, which had been growing for four to five months, were 12
feet tall.

"A crop this size would need several people to cultivate it," he
said.