OPERATION GREEN THUNDER

Forces Take To The Skies To Root Out Marijuana Growers

PARIS, Texas - Looking through high-powered binoculars, Sgt. Rick
Easterwood thought he had spotted a marijuana patch in wooded land. "I was
looking at that fuzzy critter," Sgt. Easterwood said to the pilot, who
maneuvered the Texas National Guard helicopter for a closer look at the
plot a few miles from this northeast Texas city. From a couple of hundred
feet above ground, Sgt. Easterwood, with the Texas Department of Public
Safety narcotics service, said: "Nope, it's not Sgt. Easterwood, other DPS
officers and local authorities worked with the Texas National Guard last
week in Operation Green Thunder, a marijuana eradication program operating
in various Texas regions, including the Panhandle, during the peak
marijuana season.

The program was based out of Paris last week. "We provide the
helicopter support, and we take a spotter, which is normally a law
enforcement officer who knows about the indicators [of marijuana
cultivation] and know what the marijuana looks like," said Capt.
Sergio Villarreal, a National Guard spokesman. "And of course, our
pilots through the years have learned those indicators." The Texas
National Guard's eradication efforts are part of its Texas
Counter-drug Support Program, started in 1989, Capt. Villarreal said.
The eradication operation typically lasts about 19 weeks and provides
one or two pilots at particular locations. The Texas National Guard
pilots joke about T-shirts they have, reading, "If you grow it, we
will come" =96 a play on words from the film Field of Dreams. Another
T-shirt in the collection sports the motto, "You grow it, We mow it."
When marijuana plants are spotted from a helicopter, authorities on
the ground are notified so they can move in for the seizure. The
helicopter, meanwhile, hovers above to monitor activity, officials
said. Arrests are made if growers are found at the location.

Authorities say Operation Green Thunder works.

They point to decreasing drug cultivation they spot from the air.
"This particular program ... has been so successful that every year
there is less and less patches of marijuana out here," Capt.
Villarreal said. "One, it's either because the marijuana growers are
growing a lot less and they're growing indoors, or they're moving to
another area, maybe to another state." Meanwhile, the state reports
that it is seizing more marijuana =96 from all sources, including air
surveillance =96 than ever. According to DPS, 1,110,156 marijuana
plants were seized and destroyed in Texas in the first six months of
the year. That compares to 326,820 plants seized last year, and 271,
038 plants seized in 1998. DPS officials say eradication efforts are
forcing some growers to harvest earlier, not plant as much or plant
indoors.

Eradication programs also have been conducted in other states.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, 6,686 marijuana
plants have been eradicated so far this year in Oklahoma. Last year,
18,814 plants were removed in Oklahoma. In Arkansas, 77,000 plants
have been taken this year, close to last year's 79,000. rts printed by
the Texas National Guard bear the slogans "You grow it, We mow it" and
"Field of dreams -- If you grow it we will come." "In the years of the
drought, we don't find as many patches as we used to find. And the
patches we find are not as large," said Duane Steen, DPS narcotics
captain for northeast Texas. Capt. Steen said that DPS, which also
works with DEA, has its own helicopters searching for marijuana.

They have been particularly successful near the Red River, an
important water source for crops. "To grow marijuana requires a great
deal of water, and in years that you get a lot of water ... they would
plant their crops much like a farmer would do," Capt. Steen said.
"When it gets real hot outside in Texas and the other plants start to
get a brown or dull color, the marijuana plants are usually bright
green, and they're more visible.

You can see them." Marijuana plants are most visible when they grow
between 4 to 15 feet high, officials said. Some authorities said they
have found plants as tall as 20 feet. Eradication usually focuses on
cultivated crops, not on wild marijuana.

Cultivated crops normally contain more tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC,
the psychoactive component of marijuana, and command a higher street
price.

Authorities said they typically find cultivated crops in the northeast
Texas region.

When a pilot and spotter are in the air, they look below for
lime-green colored plants that have a "Christmas-trees effect" when
seen from above, said a Texas National Guard pilot, who asked not to
be identified for security reasons. "You learn what to look for and
where to look," said the pilot, who has participated in eradication
operations for several years.

Last Thursday, Sgt. Easterwood and the pilot flew at about 500 feet
above the Red River. Sgt. Easterwood pointed out properties where
officials have made seizures. "Most of the serious growers will take
precautions" to keep their crops out of sight, he said. "They
[growers] used to put it all over the place, but they now put it near
their homes." And while last week's flights yielded a handful of
plants, Sgt. Easterwood said his job is like that of an angler on the
lake. "It's like fishing; you're not going to catch a fish everyday,"
he said.