PILOT FINDS BIG-TIME POT FARM

Harnett County sheriff's deputies, with help from the National Guard,
the State Bureau of Investigation and the North Carolina Highway
Patrol, turned into farmers for several hours Tuesday as they
harvested one of the largest operating, still growing marijuana fields
in county history.

Sheriff Larry Rollins distributed men, including several who
volunteered off-duty time to help, and equipment to several fields off
Cool Springs Road when a regular patrol by a Highway Patrol helicopter
found several fields spread across a wide area. When they got to the
scene they found a working operation deep within a wooded tract of
land.

Sheriff's Capt. Jeff Huber said there were at least 25,000 plants at
various stages of growth on eight different plots in the area. Capt.
Huber said full-grown marijuana plants now bring an average of $2,400
on the market - that puts yesterday's harvest potential at $60 million.

"We cost somebody some money today, that is for sure," Sheriff Rollins
said. "I just wish we could have cost them 10 years in the
penitentiary."

He said the find was rare because the marijuana farming business has
changed, with many growers now using greenhouse-type operations.

"We haven't seen something like this in many years," the sheriff said.
"They just don't grow it outside like they used to."

The sheriff said investigators will look into various pieces of
information, including the property owners, but he said it will be
difficult to determine who was growing the plants.

"It is so remote that you don't know who has been coming back here,"
he said. "Just because it was on a property owner's piece of land
doesn't mean they are involved."

The property is a short distance down a dirt road, off Cool Springs
Road, near the intersection of Womack Road. Cool Springs Road runs off
U.S. 421, approximately 12 west of Lillington, near Mamers.

The actual fields were along a rugged dirt path off the dirt road
which resulted in four-wheeled all-terrain vehicles bringing much of
the crop back to a gathering point.

Water markings around most of the plants indicated the marijuana
growers barely missed a meeting with the sheriff's department.

"They have been here today and it wasn't too long ago," Sheriff
Rollins said.

Camping On Property

The suspects had the property arranged for long stays to tend to their
crop. A make-shift wooden shelter contained basic living supplies
including food, a wash tub still filled with water, dirty clothes and
a bottle of bleach for cleaning needs. The sheriff said there was
other evidence indicating the individuals had been sleeping at the
site. There was also a hole that had been used to store water for
farming purposes.

The fields were found by routine air patrols. North Carolina Highway
Patrol helicopters were in the area Tuesday assisting ground workers
from the air. It is routine to use helicopters to search out fields.

"We do these air patrols three or four times a year and this time we
got lucky," Sheriff Rollins said

The sheriff said his investigators will now work hard to bring the
growers to justice.

"With an operation like this our informants will start talking so we
might get something that way," he said.

The sheriff said the crop will be destroyed but would not say which
method is used to get rid of the plants.