CHEROKEE COUNTY (KYTX) - On Thursday, Aug. 30, Cherokee County investigators met with Texas DPS narcotics officers, DEA agents and Texas National Guard personnel for routine DME flights over Cherokee County.
The mission of the Domestic Marijuana Eradication (DME) Program is to coordinate and support all law enforcement efforts in the state of Texas related to the eradication of domestically grown marijuana. Throughout the morning hours and into the early afternoon, a DPS helicopter
and crew out of Longview, and a Texas National Guard helicopter and crew out
of Austin flew reconnaissance looking for possible patches of marijuana growing in heavily wooded areas, and other locations not easily accessible or visible from the ground.
County Investigators and DPS Narcotics Officers on the ground responded to areas indicated by the personnel in the helicopters. At approximately 2:45pm, the crew on board the DPS helicopter located a possible site near the banks of the Angelina River approximately 1.5 miles
south of FM-343, which is on the Eastern boarder of the County. The ground crews were notified and discovered a very large marijuana grow operation spanning several patches.
The marijuana plants ranged in size from 12 inches to 8 feet in height. The site was set up with an irrigation system from generators and water pumps from the river, and fully equipped
camping sites for the workers to live on site and cultivate the marijuana. Although no one was caught on the property when the ground crews arrived, indications were that there were workers present at the time the helicopter located the first patch and the time the ground crews arrived.
Firearms and ammunition were also found stashed in various locations around
the patches and camp site. As of this morning at 7:30am, only the first of 4 patches had been removed by Investigators, yielding over 7,500 plants. Unless more patches are
located throughout the day, this grow operation is expected to be a total count of 15,000 to 20,000 plants.
More details will be available after the operation is completed.
