AIR PATROL PROGRAM LED TO DRUG ARRESTS

A drug bust that netted more than two dozen marijuana plants in Appling was
the second such discovery in the area this week and the result of a
statewide program. On Thursday, while conducting routine flyovers, a
Georgia State Patrol pilot spotted 27 marijuana plants near a residence in
the 5500 block of Whiteoak Road.

The pilot alerted Department of Natural Resources officers and sheriff's
deputies, who raided the home and arrested Columbia County Tax Assessor's
office employee Deborah Robertson, 46, Robert Robertson, 47, and Nathan
Robertson, 26.

Each of the family members was charged with manufacturing marijuana and
released on $7,500 bond late Thursday night, Capt. Morris said.

Capt. Morris said the flyovers aren't rare in Columbia County.

"Throughout the year, our narcotic investigators will gather information
about suspected marijuana growers," he said. "We occasionally request
assistance in our drug suppression efforts in the county."

A big part of that assistance comes from the federal Drug Enforcement
Administration-funded Governor's Drug Task Force, which was created 10
years ago to help fight marijuana cultivation, said Georgia State Patrol
Aviation Division Cpl. Todd Hatfield.

The pilots fly over nearly every county in the state from May to October
looking for marijuana plants.

"We'll ask local law enforcement officers if they have any tips or specific
places they want us to look," Cpl. Hatfield said.

This week alone, Cpl. Hatfield said, he was one of three pilots to fly over
the counties of Richmond, Columbia, McDuffie, Warren, Lincoln, Burke,
Screven, Jenkins and Taliaferro.

Cpl. Hatfield said he found nearly 40 plants in McDuffie County earlier
this week.

"Those were 4 to 6 feet tall already," he said. "So far this year we are
over 40,000 plants."

Calls to the McDuffie County Sheriff's Department were not returned Friday.

Spotting a crop of marijuana plants from the air isn't as hard as some may
think, Cpl. Hatfield said.

"If you see it three or four times you get a good idea of what it looks
like," he said of the plants. "We've found them in front porches or hidden
in the middle of nowhere under camouflage."