Suetaz

Police Get National Guard Help Eradicating Marijuana

Martha Fulkerson | The Times-Frankfort, IN | August 6, 2004

For about an hour Thursday, police and Indiana National Guard members had nothing better to do than wait.

When the call came in at 10:30 a.m., it was the start of a very active day. The four men confiscated numerous marijuana plants in southern Carroll County.

Indiana State Police have been conducting their annual marijuana eradication statewide. It’s not uncommon for other law enforcement departments, such as Frankfort police, to assist in the process. It is, however, the first time in years that National Guard troops have aided.

For the next two months, the Bravo Company 1-152 Infantry, based out of Martinsville, will aid Indiana State Police with eradication of wild and cultivated marijuana. The unit is the only one in the state called to aid in the drug search.

“We won’t have arrest powers, we just help with the foot work,” said Cpl. Ryan Lundy.

The National Guard was called to help because ISP is under-manned, according to Lundy. The Guard also has its own team to combat drugs.

ISP tells the Guardsmen where teams are needed. Currently, other members are helping in Newton, Morgan, Vigo and Kosciusko counties. They typically work eight or more hours a day, waiting for air crews to spot marijuana and then the ground team responds to the area.

The cultivated marijuana would be hard to find without air assistance, Lundy said. Some of the plants are sown in an inconspicuous manner.

“Yesterday, just from being out there for the first time, we realize how good they (the growers) are at it,” Lundy said.

Thursday’s search included the third fly over of Clinton County this summer. On July 26, the team recovered 404 plants from corn fields and wooded areas in the eastern part of the county. Wednesday, they removed more than 100 plants from the northeastern portion.

This year’s searches have been productive thus far, said Trooper Rich Kelly, marijuana eradication coordinator for the Lafayette district.

“We’ve found more this year than in the past,” he said.

The military men aided in Wednesday’s effort.

“Today, hopefully, we’ll find a lot more,” Lundy said Thursday.

Lundy said the National Guard regularly helped ISP in the eradication process. But due to lack of funding, no units have assisted since 1995.

The aid of the National Guard is a tremendous help, Kelly said.

“This is the first time in a number of years we’ve had assistance from the National Guard,” said Kelly. “It makes our job a lot more productive, and it’s safer with more people.”

The Bravo Company unit recently returned after spending more than a year in Iraq. Prior to that, the unit served in Bosnia.

[Suetaznote: More waste of taxpayer money. How many rapes, murders, assaults and drunk drivers are not being caught while all this manpower is out working the fields ripping up harmless plants?]

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