View From Above:

MARIJUANA PLANTS FOUND IN AERIAL ALAMANCE SEARCH

It's growing season for a number of plants in North Carolina,
including illegal ones such as marijuana.

That's one of the reasons why the Alamance County Sheriff's Department
decided to conduct an aerial search Monday as part of the marijuana
eradication program, a joint federally funded effort that combines
state-owned aircraft and county sheriff's deputies to find and destroy
marijuana plants.

The result? The eradication of 40 plants ranging in height from one to
four feet growing in the southern part of the county behind a mobile
home park off Swepsonville-Saxapahaw Road.

"We're aware that was coming," department spokesman Randy Jones said
of the discovery.

He said that across the state, operations such as this one are not
uncommon this time of the year, adding that the local operation was
one of five in the past seven days within a 60-mile radius that ended
with positive results.

Earlier in the month, the Davidson County Sheriff's Department
conducted several flights that netted 85 marijuana plants that were
approximately 6 feet tall. The potential street value of those plants
at maturity was estimated to be $85,000 to $127,000, according to a
news release.

Last month, the N.C. Highway Patrol spotted 380 plants on a field on
Springwood Avenue in Gibsonville while assisting the Gibsonville
police in an aerial search for a suspect.

Jones said a mature plant produces, on average, one to two pounds of
marijuana. He said the 40 plants they found had the potential to
produce 50 to 80 pounds. He said that at this point, no one has been
arrested in connection with the growing operation. The investigation
is ongoing.

He said the department conducted the operation, in part, because of
information received from residents. Jones said the plants were not
hard to spot using binoculars since the search was done in broad
daylight over open areas.

He said tips from the public are important.

"That's why we always encourage people, if they have viable
information, call us," he said, adding that even when there is not an
arrest the next day the information is being used to build cases.

The department's vice/narcotics unit was assisted by agents with the
State Bureau of Investigation. The N.C. Army National Guard air wing
provided the helicopter and pilot.

Jones said the National Guard considers such operations as training
exercises, which means the county doesn't have to pay for the use of
the helicopter.