by Tim Eberly / The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.)
by Tim Eberly / The Herald
LANCASTER, S.C. - Sheriff Johnny Cauthen is not sure whether the nearly $14 million worth of marijuana plants authorities found recently is the largest drug seizure in the county’s history.
In 1979, local authorities apprehended a World War II-era plane that landed at the Lancaster County Airport. Officers found the plane loaded with bales of marijuana that had been flown from Colombia, South America.
“It would probably be close to the same,” Cauthen said Tuesday of the amount of marijuana seized in both cases.
Conducting a “marijuana eradication” operation in conjunction with the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Department, a S.C. National Guard helicopter spotted the three fields of 6,820 marijuana plants late Thursday afternoon east of S.C. 200 near the intersection of Green Road.
About two miles east of the highway and several miles from the Chester County border, the marijuana was planted in rows and was surrounded by thick trees and brush in a secluded area, Cauthen said.
The estimated street value of the plants was $ 13.64 million, Cauthen said.
Officers conducted surveillance on the area, in the event that the growers returned to the roughly three-acre field, which was on private property without the knowledge of the owner. But Cauthen said the presence of helicopters and law enforcement likely scared off the suspects.
“They probably know about it, and they’re not going to come back,” he said.
A professional operation
Cauthen described the illegal operation as “professional” and “very well kept.”
The plants, which likely were planted in early spring, were all between 6 and 8 feet in height and were very well-nourished. Some of the plants, which held a street value of $ 2,000 apiece, were budding and ready to be picked, Cauthen said. To keep animals out, chicken wire had been wrapped around part of the field.
“You can’t do it any better than this,” the sheriff said. “This wasn’t their first time doing this.”
Cauthen said this operation could not have been pulled off by only one person.
In a creek near the fields, the suspects dug a hole the size of a pickup truck. Water gathered in the hole, and the growers used it to water the plants, Cauthen said.
A 10-by-10-foot camouflage tent supported by stilts stood in an area where the suspects kept fertilizer, pesticide, cooking stoves, food and clothing items.
“They spent numerous nights there,” Cauthen said.
The location of the rows of marijuana also was expertly chosen, Cauthen said.
“It’s so far in the woods, there’s nobody going to see it,” he said.” They secluded it about as best as you can.”
The sheriff’s department had to cut a trail through the woods to get its equipment through.
Monday evening, officers spent almost eight hours removing the plants. They are now being stored at an undisclosed location.
The plants will be burned, Cauthen said.