123 pot plants destroyed in Echols County - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

123 pot plants destroyed in Echols County

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By Jade Bulecza - bio | email

ECHOLS COUNTY, GA (WALB) –More than a half million dollars worth of pot plants were destroyed in Echols County Wednesday.

It's peak marijuana growing season and investigators were out looking for hidden marijuana fields Tuesday night. They found more than 100 quality plants.

Growers won't be tending to these marijuana plants in the Echols County anymore. More than half a million dollars worth of pot plants were found by Echols County authorities at the Wolf Bay Hunting Club Tuesday night three miles down Bug Block off Highway 94.

"We get out here and patrol the woods sometimes when we know marijuana season is in," said Echols County Sheriff Randy Courson.

After they found the plants, deputies stayed in the area overnight.

Wednesday they pulled up 123 plants and burned them.

"This was a good harvest," said GBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jamy Steinberg, whose also the commander of the South Georgia Drug Task Force.

Echols County authorities called the task force to help process the scene.

Each plant is capable of producing a pound of marijuana. The Drug Enforcement Agency estimates each plant is worth about $4,500.

"It's hard to find," said Steinberg. "You just have so much property and most of the people who grow the marijuana know the nooks and crannies and we've known a lot of them through finding marijuana over the years. It just takes time looking for it.It's a cat and mouse game."

"We're going to continue to comb the woods and find these fields and try to make arrests and get these folks put behind bars," said Sheriff Courson.

As people continue to grow marijuana and sell it, in addition to making arrests, authorities continue to work to eradicate it before it hits the streets.

Echols County authorities have not made any arrests, but they say they do have some leads and hope to track down the growers soon.

 
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