The Mountaineer

Police seize marijuana plants

Beth Pleming photo

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  Area law enforcement officers confiscated nearly 100 marijuana plants found growing in remote areas of Haywood County Monday as part of an annual marijuana eradication effort.  North Carolina National Guard pilots scouted rural areas of the county from helicopters searching for patches of marijuana growing in rugged, remote locations, while officers in vehicles and on foot followed on the ground below.  Officers representing the Haywood County Sheriff’s Office, Waynesville Police Department, U.S. Forest Service and the N.C. State Bureau of Investigations seized 95 plants found growing in a remote area of Jonathan Creek and two potted plants

found growing at a residence in the Bethel community. 

All plants were seized and will be destroyed. The investigation is ongoing, possible charges pending. 

Marijuana eradication is “something we try to do every year, depending on the National Guard’s availability to fly, in our ongoing effort to deter the illegal growth of marijuana in the county,” Haywood County Sheriff Bobby Suttles said. “We would like to eradicate all of it in the county if we can, and we will continue to do this as our way of controlling the problem. This is just one tool we have to fight the situation.”

Locating illegal crops is not an easy job, he said. By growers’ design, plants are often found growing in hard-to-reach locations — often along rugged ridgelines, amongst briar patches or tucked into remote corners surrounded by woods. 

Grow areas are often planted on farms or property unbeknownst to the property owner, detectives said. In these cases, officers confiscate the crop, and the owner is notified, but not always charged. 

While one group of officers worked areas on the west side of the county Monday, a separate group scouted areas on the east side where marijuana plants were found growing in pots outside of a Bethel residence.

The plants were removed and destroyed. Residents who were not home at the time were notified of detectives’ visit. 

Although flight time was cut short Monday by inclement weather, officers said any number of plants seized is considered a success. 

“Any day that we get marijuana off the street is a successful day,” Det. Mark Mease, Haywood County Sheriffs Office, said.