COPS HARVEST MARIJUANA CROP EARLY

Patch Behind Kmart Could Have Yielded Quarter Of A Million On The Street

Wayne County Sheriff's Department deputies ruined the harvest for some
diligent marijuana farmers Friday afternoon.

They found and destroyed a 140-plant patch of the homegrown narcotic
just north of Kmart at 3150 National Road West.

Deputies scouring the county in a helicopter spotted the crop from the
air.

After they located it they went in with machetes and bow saws and cut
down 70 female stalks of marijuana that were up to two-inches thick at
the base and towered above a man's head.

There were about 70 male marijuana plants that had already been hacked
down and laid aside by the growers.

The site was about 50 yards north of Kmart's rear service drive,
directly behind the gardening center. Trees and bushes shielded the
patch and made it invisible from the store.

A path indicated the growers came and went in the patch by a path on
the side opposite from the Kmart lot.

The plants were tied up with plastic sheeting twisted into cords, much
like tomatoes staked by fastidious gardeners.

The entire site was surrounded by mesh fencing "to keep the animals
out."

The area was littered with plastic containers that had contained
fertilizer and plant sprays.

The growers had dug a three-foot deep pit and lined it with plastic to
collect rainwater for irrigation.

"This is the most elaborate patch I've seen," Lt. Greg Vaughn said.

Vaughn was flying the helicopter that spotted the illegal crop. He has
been patrolling the county since mid-August looking for illegal
patches. Capt. Jim Daggy is his spotter.

Sheriff Matt Strittmatter said about $8,000 in donations from the
local Moose Lodge, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Meijer store have made
it possible to resume the aerial surveillance this year.

Strittmatter said the marijuana was about three weeks away from prime
harvesting time. But buds were large and sticky indicating the plants
would have produced a potent product.

The patch destroyed Friday was the largest found in the county so far
this season.

"This (the destruction) will get a lot off the street," Strittmatter said.

"Whoever was growing this meant to sell it. It's too much for personal use."

The helicopter patrols have located about 10 other patches this year.

A mature, fully grown marijuana plant can produce about a pound for
smoking. Sold in a block, the estimated value would be $1,000.
Parceled out in plastic bags, it would bring much more.

"This could have been worth a quarter million," Strittmatter said.

Strittmatter said there's no way to know who was tending the patch.
The investigation will continue.

Marijuana plants collected by the department are hauled away and
stored and will be burned when the season is over.