Plots Found In Floyd, Patrick Counties

SEARCH BY AIR UNCOVERS 1,700 MARIJUANA PLANTS

The Value Of The Plants, If They Matured, Would Be About $1.7 Million, The
Patrick County Sheriff Said

Authorities discovered about 1,700 marijuana plants in Patrick and Floyd
counties during Patrick County's annual drug eradication search Friday.

The plants were spotted from helicopters about noon Friday in a search that
included state police, the Patrick County Sheriff's Office, the National
Guard and the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Department, Patrick County
Sheriff David Hubbard said.

The plants were scattered in several plots no larger than 20 feet by 40
feet in the Tuggles Gap area. Hubbard said 1,663 plants were found in
Patrick County and about 30 in Floyd County. The plots were encircled in
chicken wire and grew under the cover of tall trees, making them difficult
to spot. No arrests had been made Saturday, but Hubbard said he is working
with the Drug Enforcement Administration to investigate suspects.

Because more than 1,000 plants were found, Hubbard said, the federal
government is involved in the investigation.

The plants ranged in size from 3 feet to 13 feet, Hubbard said. The value
of all of the plants, if they matured, would be about $1.7 million, he said.

Hubbard said this was the biggest drug bust in Patrick County since the
early 1990s, when about 7,000 plants were found in the same area.