Law enforcement officers in Washington seized 135,323 marijuana plants in 2005, a record amount that the Washington State Patrol valued at an estimated $270 million.[1][2] The haul ranked the illegal crop as the state’s No. 8 agricultural commodity, just ahead of sweet cherries, which were valued at $242 million in 2004.[1][2]

It was the seventh year in a row that seizures set a record, up from 66,521 plants in 2003 and 132,941 in 2004.[2] Lt. Rich Wiley, who heads the State Patrol’s narcotics program, said growers ran labour-intensive operations with individual drip lines to each plant.[1][2] A single plant could produce as much as a pound of processed marijuana worth an estimated $2,000, Wiley said.[2]

Where the grows were

Most of the growing operations were in eastern Washington, principally outdoors on federal or state land in remote locations near a source of water.[2] Officers said crops had grown larger and more sophisticated, though some small “mom and pop” plots of 500 or fewer plants were still found.[2] Wiley coordinates the busts with the Drug Enforcement Administration and local agencies.[2]