Drug agents dig up another big pot grow

TOPPENISH -- Drug enforcement officers seized more than 1,750 marijuana plants Thursday from a steep ravine about 10 miles south of town in the closed section of the Yakama reservation.

The seizure was part of a statewide emphasis on marijuana eradication being conducted by a multi-agency task force consisting of drug agents from the Washington State Patrol, Yakima County Sheriff's Office and Yakama Nation Police.

Drug agents used a helicopter to pluck the plants from the grow situated a few miles east of U.S. Highway 97. It's one of the smaller ones uncovered this year.

The grow consisted of three separate plots, all believed to have been connected, said Lt. Rich Wiley of the Washington State Patrol.

"There was evidence of a camp there, so it was evident that people were living there periodically, taking care of the plants," he said.

Two drug dogs were also brought in from Clark County to sniff out anyone tending the plants. No arrests were made.

The catch brings the total number of marijuana plants seized this year in Yakima County to more than 165,000, Wiley said.

Four years ago, author-ities broke up a much larger grow in the same area, roughly 65,000 plants, near Satus Pass. That remains the state's largest seizure.

"Sometimes they turn out to be bigger than you expect, and other times the turn out smaller than what you'd expect," Wiley said.

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