Sheriff's Office busts McDonough pot operation
McDONOUGH – The Chenango County Sheriff’s Office swept through a marijuana growing operation Tuesday that was uncovered by detectives in a remote swamp in the Town of McDonough, seizing irrigation equipment and hundreds of plants.
Sheriff’s investigators spent about five hours hauling more than 400 plants from the location yesterday afternoon, worth an estimated $300.000.
Police raided a large parcel of land measuring nearly half a mile wide, according to property records kept by the Chenango County Office of Real Property and Tax Services, which is owned by an out of state individual living in the New Jersey area.
The property had no direct access from the road, but the site of the operation was located several hundred yards into a wetland area along county Route 7.
Detective Sgt. Richard M. Cobb said they’d been tipped off to the operation after a pilot, who had prior law enforcement experience and training in spotting illegal plants from the air, saw the growth during a training flight and called it in.
“When we have a situation where the plants are in plain sight, we have probable cause to enter the property without a warrant. The pilot in this case was also specifically trained to locate these kinds of operations from the air, which gives us all the reason we really need to go in,” Cobb said.
Sheriff’s detectives using global positioning equipment and aerial maps hiked to the area of the suspect plants and discovered dozens of large potting containers, many roughly two feet in diameter with several plants growing in each, dispersed in an area covering several acres.
Cobb said the arrangement may have been an attempt to hide the operation from aerial detection and mentioned that the location of the marijuana was in difficult terrain.
“They were probably hoping no one would want to trudge all the way out here, but they’re in for a surprise,” he said.
Additionally police uncovered an irrigation system made from tubes, garden hoses and a nearby gas-powered water pump feeding from a local creek. Other gardening equipment such as shears, shovels and other implements were either seized or destroyed by detectives.
“We don’t leave behind anything that could be reused for future illegal activity,” said Cobb.
Cobb said that the investigation was ongoing and that arrests in the case are pending. He explained that any suspects arrested in connection to the case would most likely be facing multiple drug felony charges.
Sheriff’s investigators spent about five hours hauling more than 400 plants from the location yesterday afternoon, worth an estimated $300.000.
Police raided a large parcel of land measuring nearly half a mile wide, according to property records kept by the Chenango County Office of Real Property and Tax Services, which is owned by an out of state individual living in the New Jersey area.
The property had no direct access from the road, but the site of the operation was located several hundred yards into a wetland area along county Route 7.
Detective Sgt. Richard M. Cobb said they’d been tipped off to the operation after a pilot, who had prior law enforcement experience and training in spotting illegal plants from the air, saw the growth during a training flight and called it in.
“When we have a situation where the plants are in plain sight, we have probable cause to enter the property without a warrant. The pilot in this case was also specifically trained to locate these kinds of operations from the air, which gives us all the reason we really need to go in,” Cobb said.
Sheriff’s detectives using global positioning equipment and aerial maps hiked to the area of the suspect plants and discovered dozens of large potting containers, many roughly two feet in diameter with several plants growing in each, dispersed in an area covering several acres.
Cobb said the arrangement may have been an attempt to hide the operation from aerial detection and mentioned that the location of the marijuana was in difficult terrain.
“They were probably hoping no one would want to trudge all the way out here, but they’re in for a surprise,” he said.
Additionally police uncovered an irrigation system made from tubes, garden hoses and a nearby gas-powered water pump feeding from a local creek. Other gardening equipment such as shears, shovels and other implements were either seized or destroyed by detectives.
“We don’t leave behind anything that could be reused for future illegal activity,” said Cobb.
Cobb said that the investigation was ongoing and that arrests in the case are pending. He explained that any suspects arrested in connection to the case would most likely be facing multiple drug felony charges.
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