GREEN HARVEST NETS 9,430 MARIJUANA PLANTS ON OAHU

HONOLULU (AP) -- Law enforcement officials have seized 9,430 marijuana
plants on Oahu public lands in a weeklong Green Harvest operation.

The haul was ''better than average,'' said Detective Emilio Laganse of the
Honolulu police narcotics detail.

The five-day operation ended Friday. Laganse would not reveal the specific
locations of the raids, but he said most of the marijuana was seized on
state land in mountainous areas.

''These are remote areas usually accessible only to hikers and hunters,'' he
said.

The plants ranged from seedlings to 8 feet tall, he said.

Police officers from Maui and the Big Island also participated along with
personnel from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, Hawaii
National Guard and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Similar Green Harvest operations netted 12,418 marijuana plants on the Big
Island in August and 4,868 plants on Kauai in May.

The Green Harvest operations are conducted not only to eradicate the drug,
but for public safety reasons.

''There have been instances where hikers and hunters have been threatened or
scared off by growers,'' he said.

Operation Green Harvest is a state, county and federal program launched in
the 1980s to eradicate marijuana grown in Hawaii. Laganse declined to say
how often operations are conducted, but said it is done regularly around the
state because Hawaii's climate allows the plant to be grown year-round.