POLICE TO SEEK MARIJUANA FROM SKY

The sky is no limit in efforts to stop marijuana growers from cashing in on
their illegal crops.

Hoping to put a dent in the upcoming fall harvest, officials with the
Louisiana state police and Texas Department of Public Safety will begin
daily helicopter patrols this week to scout regions of Northeast Texas and
Northwest Louisiana for marijuana patches and randomly grown pot plants.
The marijuana eradication program will continue through the end of the
year, officials said Tuesday.

So far this year, sky patrols by Louisiana state police have netted more
than 2,000 marijuana plants and led to 60 arrests, said Sgt. Bud Torres,
marijuana eradication coordinator.

"Years ago, we used to see large plots of marijuana - almost an
agricultural deal, where there were rows of plants," Torres said. "Now
that's very nontypical. The trend is to plant here and plant there. We're
having to work harder, but we're seeing some positive results in that we're
causing a change in the industry. They're having to change their method of
operation."

Marijuana is a stalked green plant with sawlike or serrated leaves. The
average patch usually has 10 to 30 plants. Planes and helicopters are used
to detect patches, but the plants - which resemble Christmas trees from the
air - are difficult to spot if they're not in a tightly-packed patch, said
Lt. Mark Milanovich, of DPS narcotics in Tyler, Texas.

Milanovich said the joint eradication program will also include National
Guard units from Louisiana and Texas as well as the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration.

"Marijuana cultivation is a big problem," he said. "And the growers are
getting innovative, hiding it among bushes."

Busts at outdoor cultivation spots often yield fertilizers, insecticides
and herbicides. But growers have become crafty, attempting to avoid
detection by moving indoors, where farms employ root irrigation systems and
special lights to accelerate growth, Milanovich said.

Gray skies forced cancelation of a joint news conference Tuesday morning in
Marshall where officials planned to kick off the eradication program. Once
the first clear day comes, however, Milanovich said air patrols will occur
daily.