Kentucky Guard Used in Aerial Marijuana Raid
National Guard forces and state troopers on Monday staged an all-day, aerial search over much of the state to find and destroy marijuana crops at the height of the harvest season.
Gov. Martha Layne Collins put 60 guardsmen on active duty for the one-day Operation Green-Gray Sweep.
“Marijuana growers are criminals. They take an opportunity to make a quick, easy buck,” Collins said at a news conference at which she announced the raid.
Officials said helicopters, each carrying three unarmed guardsmen and two armed troopers, were dispatched to each of the 16 state police posts in the state. Other helicopter crews stood by in case of trouble.
The airborne crews were to spot marijuana fields so that other troopers could converge on the ground and destroy the plants.
By mid-afternoon, the helicopter crews had spotted 20 plots in 17 counties, where 2,000 to 3,000 plants were growing, said Capt. John Lile of the state police.
The helicopters flew at 200 to 300 feet above the ground, a risky procedure, according to guardsmen and troopers. Air currents from the rotors cause the silvery undersides of the marijuana leaves to turn up, which makes them easy to spot, guardsmen and troopers said.
It was the first time Kentucky had used troops in direct support of a state police marijuana eradication effort, officials said.
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