POT PLANTS TORCHED

Police: Marijuana is worth $1.3M

WILLIAMSTOWN - A hidden field of 1,305 marijuana plants, some as tall as 8
1/2 feet, were cut and burned in Grant County on Sunday, but the identity
of the growers remains unknown, Sheriff Randy Middleton said today.

Figuring a value of about $1,000 per plant the field's worth would exceed
$1.3 million, Middleton said.

But the value may be twice that. State police said $2,000 a plant is the
value they typically use.

Middleton said his department's investigation began with a tip several
weeks ago about the location of the field.

He drove out for a look and, at first, found only 50 to 60 plants. But upon
closer inspection, the larger field was found.

''They were well-cultivated and fertilized,'' Middleton said.

Rather than cut the crop immediately, Middleton and other law enforcement
officers kept an eye on the remote field, hoping the growers might show up
to tend the plants.

When they didn't show over the holiday weekend, the decision was made to go
ahead and cut marijuana.

Middleton said cutting the pot plants was much like cutting tobacco - which
he and his men have plenty of experience doing.

The plants were carted to town and burned behind the Williamstown City
Building on Sunday and the ashes buried using a backhoe.

Middleton declined to pinpoint the field except to say it was on private
property along a creek bottom in the southern end of the county. Officers
talked to the property owner, who was unaware of the pot field, Middleton
said.

State Police spokesman Lt. Kevin Payne in Frankfort said that's typical of
pot fields in Kentucky. ''Most of the time, the property owner doesn't
know,'' Payne said.

Illegal growers select a remote field, then drive in undetected by the
owner on a four-wheeler to plant, water and harvest.

Sometimes the fields are guarded and booby-trapped, though the field in
Grant County was not.

This is the prime season for police to find marijuana fields.

''We gear up in early to mid June for our marijuana eradication efforts,''
Payne said.

State police use helicopters to fly over suspected areas.

They welcome tips to a hotline, 800-367-3847, or 800-DOPE TIP.

Payne said most of the marijuana grown in Kentucky is for the national
market and is exported to surrounding states.

In 1998, state police found more than 300,000 marijuana plants.

Helping the Grant County Sheriff's office were Crittenden police, Dry Ridge
police, Williamstown police, and a state Fish and Wildlife officers.

A reward will given for information about the growers.

Call the sheriff at 606-824-3333.

Middleton said the amount of the reward will depend on the value of the
information.