cannabisnews.com: Copters Help Triple Removal of Pot Plants Copters Help Triple Removal of Pot Plants Posted by FoM on September 05, 2000 at 07:11:42 PT By Tom Gilchrist, Times Writer Source: Michigan Live If you thought you saw more helicopters hovering above the Thumb area's farm fields this summer, you were right. They were checking out the crops - specifically, the marijuana.The copters helped undercover officers almost triple the number of pot plants removed from Tuscola, Lapeer and Huron counties this year compared to 1999. The helicopters' presence could mean trouble for five residents of Tuscola and Lapeer counties. Thumb Narcotics Unit officers plan to seek criminal charges against the suspects for growing marijuana outdoors."They know prosecution is coming," said Detective Lt. Mitch Krugielki, commander of the Thumb Narcotics Unit, which targets illicit drug trafficking in Tuscola, Huron and Lapeer counties.Police haven't arrested any of the suspects yet. Officers plan to "offer them the opportunity to work with us" before deciding on charges, Krugielki said."Our goal is to target the high-level drug trafficker, but we start with the low- and mid-level traffickers and try to move up," Krugielki said.National Guard or U.S. Coast Guard helicopters made 10 flights above Huron, Tuscola and Lapeer counties this year in an effort to spot pot. That's compared with only two flights over the same area during the same time period in 1999. A typical flight lasts for about two hours.The helicopters flew to support the federally funded Operation "HEMP," which stands for "Help Eliminate Marijuana Producing."As of mid-August, Thumb Narcotics Unit officers had pulled out more than 7,400 marijuana plants in Huron, Tuscola and Lapeer counties. Officers removed about 2,700 plants during the same time period in 1999."We were offered three helicopters this year instead of the one we were offered last year, and we took advantage of all three and that resulted in the higher numbers, I think," Krugielki said."The spotters in the helicopters go to a training school to learn how to spot marijuana from the air, so I wouldn't say spotting marijuana is easy."If a plant is close to 7 feet tall and in the area of a corn field where all the corn stalks have been removed, it's fairly easy to see. But if it's a little plant 10 inches high in a row of corn, that's difficult to spot."Police plan to ask prosecutors in Lapeer County to seek forfeiture of one of the five suspects' homes."In that instance the residence had outdoor marijuana plants growing and other marijuana plants growing indoors in a solarium, with a heat lamp and a little greenhouse," Krugielki said.This summer, someone planted marijuana in a mucky area near an island in the middle of an inland lake in Lapeer County."Somebody actually went to the extent where they took a boat out into a lake and in a swampy area near an island they planted a bunch of marijuana," Krugielki said.Undercover officers, assisted by state Department of Natural Resources conservation officers, "were out in waist deep mud and muck, pulling out these marijuana plants," Krugielki said.-Tom Gilchrist covers regional news for The Times. He can be reached at 894-9649.Published: Tuesday, September 5, 2000Copyright 2000 Michigan Live Inc. Related Articles:Green Harvest Debate Rageshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6936.shtml 200 Million in Pot Seized in Huge Kern Bust http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6888.shtmlSheriff's Raid Nets $7.5m in Pot http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6814.shtmlMarijuana Garden Worth $40 Million Destroyedhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread6748.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #8 posted by pat m. on July 19, 2001 at 11:35:21 PT: check this out. During good ole' joe stalins reign over the former soviet union a person could be sentanced to a standard minimum of ten years in a gulag for things such as the illegal cultivation of wheat. This type of 'iron fist' attitude toward aggricultural material(plants) sounds exactly like the latest drug war 'zero tollerance' prison sentances imposed on people in the past few years. I can't believe these people don't have anything better to do or anything better to spend such disgusting amounts of money on.I've heard the expression "Those who do not remember the past are destined to re-live it." and I think it's true.However in instances like this I think it would be more appropriate to say that whether or not people remember the past,sometimes others can force them to re-live it. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by dddd on September 06, 2000 at 08:12:07 PT cop-ters I got the same sort of retro-natzi chill from;" "offer them the opportunity to work with us",quite Gestapoesque,,,and the H.E.M.P. thing,,it's all seeming to look more and more like a scenario from some sci-fi novel from an L.Ron Hubbard channeler. The absurdity,and madness of the "drug war machine",and its dimented warriors,is quite likely to become the object of increasing public scrutiny,and critism in the next year.The dishonourable facade these devious factions have fabricated,is already showing signs of withering. It will continue to crumble. Colombia is going to/or already has,made the drug war issue,into a Red Hot Sizzlin' Potato,for that "asshole" bush,and his opponent.. Has anyone out there seen,or read ANYTHING,,from these ol' boys,concerning Colombia?. Has there has been a curious,and questionable lack of any media coverage of the military deployments in Colombia.?? I would be very interested to see a bunch of dazzling CNN /Gulf war style coverage......yup,,,,but I havnt seen any,news video from Colombia. Two reasons for this;a)Strict extreme czarist manipulation..Talk about clout,,that ol' boy has world class cash,that has already butterred the right network palms,,,and says it's a matter of national security,no film crews allowed.b)You would be quite the daredevil cameraman,or reporter,to go on down to Colombia,and try to get the scoop on what's happening in the hot spots.This area would have to be about as close as it gets to a "no mans' land".,,Looks good MikeEEEEE,I cant play anymore cheap pranks on you....are you really moving to Utah?....................dddd [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by Dan B on September 05, 2000 at 20:51:05 PT: Dept. of Natural Resources? "Undercover officers, assisted by state Department of Natural Resources conservation officers, 'were out in waist deep mud and muck, pulling out these marijuana plants,' Krugielki said."Let me get this straight: we have people from the Department of Natural Resources pulling up thousands of plants that just happen to represent one of our country's greatest natural resources? These are plants that could, if made legal, create a boom in agriculture, eliminate this country's reliance on foreign oil, seriously curtail the depletion of that other natural resource we use for building materials and paper (trees), and provide a food source for millions of people at the same time. Just what "natural resource" is the Department of Natural Resources aiming to protect? [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by FoM on September 05, 2000 at 16:55:24 PT You look good in red too! Hi MikeEEEEE! I've been reformatting my computer today and trying not to miss any news articles that are important! Oh Joy! Oh Joy! LOL! I see you are now red and that makes me smile! I've been grumbling to myself all day and it's nice to see you have registered your name!Peace, FoM! [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by MikeEEEEE on September 05, 2000 at 16:40:52 PT Damm Satanists!!! I bet the Nazi's attracted a few satanists in their time. How history repeats itself? [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Rev.Happy on September 05, 2000 at 10:09:29 PT Welcome Home I am from the Thumb of Michigan and been VERY active in my area with the PRA and legalization issues. I guess my voice was heard...Thumb Narcotics, whom I've personally met, is a rag tag band of amatuers who are more concerned with seizing property then drugs. I went to high school with one of this fairy band, and he was a satanist. Not that I have a problem with lucifarians, but we should all know who's wading through our muck. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by legalizeit on September 05, 2000 at 08:59:53 PT I'm getting sick of the prohibs' acronyms These dummies have to come up with cutesy acronyms for their pin-headed, money-wasting operation, like>Operation "HEMP," which stands for "Help Eliminate Marijuana Producing."The interesting thing is, just about all of them end with a P, which usually stands for Planting or Producing.How about PROHIBITION!!!!>Police plan to ask prosecutors in Lapeer County to seek forfeiture of one of the five suspects' homes.So much for asset forfeiture reform. The cops steal someone's home just because he was growing PLANTS in or near it. The "Founding Fathers" would be utterly outraged if they could see stuff like this. If only they had incorporated growing hemp as a Constitutional right... think of all the suffering they could have spared us.>Undercover officers, assisted by state Department of Natural Resources conservation officers, "were out in waist deep mud and muck, pulling out these marijuana plants," Krugielki said.Where's quicksand when you need it?! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo, MD on September 05, 2000 at 08:18:26 PT: Shades of the Gestapo "offer them the opportunity to work with us" This is the government euphemism for informing on others in exchange for a reduced sentence or freedom from prosecution. A Faustian bargain to be sure. Does our society really wish this situation of eroding civil liberties to continue? [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: