13,725 marijuana plants uprooted in Big Island Counter-Cannabis sweep
Big Island vice officers confiscated 13,725 marijuana plants in a five-day Counter-Cannabis Field Operation ending 15 February 2002, including 8,066 plants at a sophisticated irrigated grow on the southern slope of Mauna Loa. Officers from every county police department plus state and federal agencies took part, and no arrests were made.
🇺🇸 Hamakua, Hilo, Puna, Ka'u and South Kona districts, Hawaii Island; southern slope of Mauna Loa · Hawaii, United States
Big Island vice officers confiscated 13,725 marijuana plants ranging from seedlings to six feet tall in a five-day Counter-Cannabis Field Operation that ended Friday 15 February 2002.[1]Officers from the Honolulu, Maui and Kauai county police departments joined the sweep along with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Hawaii National Guard and the US Drug Enforcement Administration.[1]
Officers found one of the most sophisticated growing operations seen in recent years on the southern side of Mauna Loa, with a rainfall catchment and irrigation system, and confiscated 8,066 plants two to four feet tall at the 6,500-foot level.[1][2]The sweep covered Hamakua, North Hilo, South Hilo, Puna, Ka’u and South Kona.[1]No booby traps were found and no arrests were made.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
The police release misprints the operation's end year as 2001, but its own 15 February 2002 publication date and Friday dating place the sweep's end on 15 February 2002.
No weight in kilograms or street value was published for the plants destroyed.
No photograph of this sweep with a recoverable direct image address was found in the opened sources.
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Arrested 14Plants destroyed 108,226Cannabis 25.0873 t
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