DRUG BUSTERS HARVEST A BUMPER MARIJUANA CROP IN WEST MICHIGAN

It's harvest time in West Michigan, but don't look for the bumper crop
being gathered by police to grace the Thanksgiving table.

They have plucked, pulled and chopped thousands of nearly mature marijuana
plants from woods, farms and swamps throughout the area.

- -- On Sept. 27, more than 450 plants were yanked out of a wooded area south
of Maple Grove near Clark and Butler roads by state police at the Hastings
post.

- -- On Aug. 28, 160 plants were pulled from a corn field near 84th Street
and East Paris Avenue in Gaines Township.

- -- On Aug. 23, more than 800 plants were pulled and burned on the spot from
a corn field along Wabasis Avenue NE near 13 Mile Road.

- -- On Aug. 3, 35 plants were pulled from the garden of a home on Pettis
Avenue NE in Ada Township.

- -- On July 18, 58 plants were taken from the back yard of a house on Broman
Street NE in Algoma Township.

The nearly 1,500 plants retrieved in Kent County compares to about 350
plants seized outdoors all year, last year.

"I don't know why we're getting more plants this year," said Lt. Gary
Gorski, a member of the Michigan Enforcement Team. "I think we've gotten
some quality tips this year."

Gorski said the tips -- often called anonymously to 1-800-235-HEMP -- have
sent the state police or National Guard helicopter aloft more often locally.

"We've got guys who have never seen anything like this, with thick, thick
buds," Gorski said. The buds on the plants are the most desirable part of
the marijuana plant. A plant with bountiful buds can be worth much more
than the standard $1,000 street value of a single marijuana plant.

Gorski said the plants that have been found are obviously well maintained.

It took about five hours to retrieve the plants in Barry County and drag
them out of the woods Sept. 27, Trooper Ernie Felkers said.

The plants -- some of which stood nearly 9 feet tall -- were spotted by law
enforcement planes flying over rural Assyria Township.

Pilots directed law enforcement personnel to the area where the well-
tended plants were nearly ready for harvest, Felkers said.

Felkers said troopers were aided by DNR conservation officer Mike Ludlam,
who used a state off-road vehicle to move the huge haul. The plants were
turned over to the South West Enforcement Team and destroyed.

Felkers said this is the largest bust he knows of in Barry County. No
arrests have been made yet, and the property owner was unaware the plants
were there, he said.

In most cases, property owners were unaware that dope dealers are using
their land, Gorski said.

Statewide this year, about 18,000 plants have been retrieved through
August, Sgt. Frank Salcido, a detective at state police headquarters in
Lansing said.

About 16,000 of those plants came in a massive haul in the Upper Peninsula,
Salcido said.

"People think all we do is look for plants," Gorski said. "This is actually
a very small part of our work."

Salcido says most of the work done by drug enforcement involves
investigation and arrests for processed drugs on the street.