OFFICERS HARVEST CANNABIS

No arrests are made as 60 marijuana plants are found in Autauga County
Department of Public Safety and Alabama National Guard helicopters buzzed
above Autauga County on Thursday and Friday looking for marijuana plots and
found drugs with a street value of about $120,000.

The effort bagged about 60 plants, with each plant having a street value at
maturity of $2,000-$2,500.

The seizures netted no arrests.

The choppers searched the county in coordination with ground teams. The
Marijuana Eradication Program is a statewide effort to find the illegal
weed before it hits the streets.

Clay Davis pulled his pickup off Alabama 14 near Autaugaville and watched a
helicopter circle a pine tree plantation Friday afternoon.

"I've talked to those boys who fly looking for dope. How they find those
plants is beyond me," he said. "They do a good job. I was driving over to
my parents in Selma and saw the two helicopters. I knew (Autauga County
Sheriff) Herbie (Johnson) was out looking for pot."

The aircraft observation was done a little different this year.

"We flew a little later this year than we usually do," Johnson said. "We
felt that would give the plants time to grow, so they could be spotted
easier. This is a good haul for us. It's been more than seven or eight
years since we've found any big plots."

Most of the plants found now are in small groups, five to eight in an area.
When Johnson became sheriff in 1991, it wasn't unusual to find plots made
up of several hundred plants. Aggressive eradication efforts and public
support has cut down on marijuana cultivation.

"The public has been very good to us, calling in tips and information,"
Johnson said. "The helicopters allow us to search areas we can't get to on
foot, or areas that would take days to search on foot. There's some
marijuana being grown in the county, but most of the pot we find has been
imported