Pubdate: Thu, 09 Sep 2004
Source: Clarksdale Press Register (MS)
Copyright: 2004, Clarksdale Press Register
Contact:  http://www.pressregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1656
Author: David Healy
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

BOBO RAID YIELDS $150,000 WORTH OF MARIJUANA

Coahoma County Sheriff Andrew Thompson Jr. (left) and Mississippi Bureau of 
Narcotics Agent Jeff Overstreet hold up marijuana plants that were seized 
Wednesday in woods near a cotton field in Bobo.

The Coahoma County Sheriff's Department, in conjunction with the 
Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, found approximately $150,000 in marijuana 
plants Wednesday in the woods near a cotton field in Bobo.

After pulling the plants out of the ground, lawmen took the marijuana to 
the Coahoma County Jail and burned it with diesel fuel.

The Bureau of Narcotics used a helicopter to spot the plants, which were 
located off of Bobo-Rena Lara Road.

"This was about an average kill," said Coahoma County Sheriff Andrew 
Thompson Jr.

Thompson did note, however, that some of the trees measured an unusually 
tall 15 feet.

Thompson said there is no way to determine who planted the marijuana. He 
said it would have been cost-prohibitive to conduct a stakeout and wait for 
the growers to show.

"If the plants were at a young stage, they (the growers) might have come 
back to water them, but these growers probably won't come back to pick it 
until the first freeze of the year," Thompson said.

The drugs were seized as part of a statewide effort called the Annual 
Marijuana Eradication Program. The program has been going on for 10 years, 
and this year's effort began two days ago.

"We typically find something every year," Thompson said. Thompson said how 
much his department seizes this year will depend on the amount of flying 
time the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics will devote in the county. "The 
only way to find this stuff is by helicopter," he said. "They have guys who 
are school-trained to be spotters."

While Thompson was pleased with finding the marijuana, he guessed it 
wouldn't make much of a dent in the amount of marijuana used illegally in 
the county.

"They will get it somewhere else," he said of users. Thompson estimated 
that 75 percent of the marijuana used in Coahoma County is brought in from 
other places.
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