POLICE SEIZE $3 MILLION WORTH OF MARIJUANA PLANTS IN SCOTT COUNTY

GATE CITY - A joint law enforcement operation has reaped one of Scott
County's largest marijuana plant eradications, Sheriff Jerry Broadwater
said Thursday.

More than 3,800 marijuana plants were seized in the Big Moccasin area early
Wednesday afternoon following aerial sightings by helicopters from the
Virginia State Police, Southwest Virginia Regional Drug Task Force, and the
Virginia National Guard.

Scott County Sheriff's Department Investigators Joey Rusek and Terry Sivert
said officers on the ground converged on the marijuana patch, which was
spread out over one acre of land, after the plants were spotted from the air.

"The plants were found in a very secluded, remote area of Big Moccasin near
Clinch Mountain on the Scott/Russell County border," Rusek said.

"The plants appeared to be well-manicured, and judging from their size,
they were probably planted in late spring," Sivert said. "We found them in
a former timber excavation area, and the patches were just spread out and
not just in one huge patch."

Broadwater estimated the seized plants had a street value of more than $3
million. Even though he called the eradication "one of the biggest in
recent years," Broadwater said the biggest marijuana seizure in the county
took place in the mid-1980s, when several million dollars worth of plants
were taken out of the Possum Creek area.

"The plants were so big in that particular patch we had to cut some of them
down with chain saws," Broadwater said. "With the past couple of raids we
have done over the last few years, we've just had small patches here and
there. This is a significant find."

VSP spokesman Don Lyons said Thursday the marijuana investigation is part
of an operation that will be spread over a 15-county region over the next
few months, which is the usual cultivation time for marijuana growers.

So far this week, a search of Wise County reaped no plants, while 39 plants
were found in the Keokee section of Lee County Tuesday.

"The seizure in Scott County is one of the biggest we've seen in several
years. (The Big Moccasin area) is one place we had not searched before
until Wednesday," said Lyons.

"Since timber had just recently been cut in the area, it created a better
situation for sunlight to come in, as well as disturbing the soil that
allowed the growers to plant the plants on the side of the mountain. We
could also see the plants that the growers had made from the air."

No arrests have been made in connection with the seizure.

Anyone with information regarding this case should contact the Scott County
Sheriff's Department's criminal investigations unit at (540)386-1351.