Remote Opium Field Is Said to Be Unusual Find
From Staff and Wire Reports
Narcotics officers say a field of 40,000 opium poppy plants found on a remote hillside above North Fork was an isolated case.
State agents found the acre-plus field in Madera County in June after a hiker stumbled on the patch deep in the forest. Three men dressed in military-style fatigues ran from the field, but no arrests have been made.
“It was a surprise to see something like this on that scale,” state narcotics agent Dave Dresson said. “We just haven’t encountered gardens like that.”
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