Aerial surveillance conducted by the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and members of the Panola County Sheriff's Office Narcotics Task Force has yielded eight marijuana plants found growing in rural areas of Tallahatchie County.
Tallahatchie County Sheriff Jimmy Fly said Friday that MBN and Panola County drug enforcement agents conducted flyovers of "the whole county" on Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 2-3, alternating between helicopter and airplane use.
After making each find, the airborne crew contacted a Tallahatchie sheriff's deputy on the ground to close in and make the seizure, the sheriff noted.
The eyes in the sky spotted the eight plants, ranging in height from 2-10 feet, in small clearings on "three different properties" in the Blue Cane and Cascilla communities, Fly explained. He said the plants had an estimated street value of about $1,000 each.
"The plants will be sent to the [state] Crime Lab, where they will be destroyed," the sheriff added.
While landowners of the property were contacted, Fly said no one was arrested and no charges are anticipated.
"Unless you just catch someone there while they're tending the plants, it's hard to prove [ownership]," Fly said.
The sheriff said the flyovers, which are conducted throughout the state by MBN with assistance from local law enforcement agencies, generally are timed to coincide with the latter stages of the marijuana growing season.
"They'll start harvesting the plants in the next month or so, so if there are any out there this is the time to find them," he noted. "It's easier for the spotters to see them [from the sky]."
Fly said some growers of the illegal plants prune them to keep them shorter, which apparently was the case with several undersized mature plants discovered in Tallahatchie County.
The sheriff said he is grateful for the bird's-eye view assistance given by the visiting lawmen.
"I thank MBN, and [Panola] Sheriff [Dennis] Darby for sending his people to help us," Fly said.
IN THE PHOTO: Tallahatchie County Sheriff Jimmy Fly stands alongside marijuana plants discovered during recent aerial surveillance in the county. (Photo special to The Sun-Sentinel)
