AUTHORITIES ON POT PATROL

WELCH - As they search by air and ground, authorities are continuing their
campaign to eradicate illegal marijuana plants growing in southern West
Virginia.

In a large discovery, authorities seized an estimated $5 million worth of
marijuana plants in the Jolo area of McDowell County Saturday and Sunday.
It was one of the largest finds in recent years, Sgt. J.R. Pauley of the
West Virginia State Police Princeton Detachment, said.

Pauley said the illegal plants are normally discovered during aerial
searches in remote and unpopulated areas of southern West Virginia.

"I've also had hunters to find them, and four-wheeler enthusiasts to find
them," Pauley said. "This weekend, we found them from the air."

Pauley said the plants are normally grown between May and September.

"It is basically just like your gardening season," Pauley said. "It is
generally all through the summer and during the growing months. They will
harvest it at the end of the growing season, dry it out and sell it."

Pauley said those found guilty of harvesting such plants face a felony
charge of possession with intent to deliver, which carries a minimum of one
and a maximum of 15 years in the state penitentiary.

"Generally the large fields are in unpopulated and remote areas that belong
to someone else," Pauley said "They think they can do it and not get caught."

The investigation into the weekend discovery of the 2,000 marijuana plants
in McDowell County is continuing. No arrests were reported as of Monday.
Pauley said the weekend crop discovery in Jolo was "one of the largest" in
recent years.

"For the whole area, the last several years have been kind of slow," he
said. "That was just a good find for the year. We have scheduled times for
the summer that we do marijuana eradications."

In addition to regularly scheduled aerial searches by helicopter in
conjunction with the West Virginia National Guard, Pauley said authorities
also act upon tips received from the public.

"It is just an ongoing thing," he said. "It is something we do every year."

Pauley said smaller marijuana fields have been discovered in recent years
across southern West Virginia, including in Mercer, Mingo, McDowell and
Logan counties.

The 2,000 plants discovered near Jolo will be destroyed.

"They have got all of them piled up," Pauley said. "They will be burned and
destroyed."

The state police were assisted in the Jolo discovery by the McDowell County
Sheriff's Department, the Bradshaw Volunteer Fire Department and the
Bradshaw Police Department.