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HELICOPTERS COLLECT MARIJUANA PLANTS WITH NETS

SKYFOREST- Law enforcement officials raided a mountain pot farm in the San Bernardino National Forest on Monday, with two helicopters dropping five or six nets that can each hold about 200 pounds of marijuana plants, officials said.

The marijuana eradication operation combines efforts of the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department with the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement's Campaign Against Marijuana Planting task force, which have been conducting aerial surveillance over the canyon below Heap's Peak for about two months, said Jodie Miller, spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Department.

"Outdoor marijuana growth is most prevalent in the months from April to typically the end of October, so it is routine that aerial surveillance is conducted, and that's how this cultivation site was located," Miller said.

Two helicopters were dedicated to Monday's plant removal operation, along with 15 law enforcement officials who hiked into in the canyon below Heap's Peak - the only way to reach the marijuana farm.

Three arrests in connection with the pot farm were made early last week, and there may be additional suspects, Miller said, but information about them was unavailable.

At least two camp sites where people tend to live in order to maintain and protect the plants were identified at the pot farm, Miller said.

Information about the amount of marijuana plants and their value will not be available until the team returns from the field, Miller said.

Officials were still out in the field at 6 p.m.  Monday, and they started their trek to eradicate the marijuana fields as early as 5 a.m., Miller said.