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HUTCHINSON, Kan. | Large-scale marijuana-growing operations have been turning up more frequently in Kansas, as part of what authorities say is a move by organized crime to the region.
Drug Enforcement Administration statistics show that the number of outdoor marijuana operations found in Kansas and neighboring states has increased over the last few years, and in some cases, the number has doubled.
"We're seeing it all over the U.S., but operations are moving to areas in the Midwest, where they think we don't have adequate law enforcement," Rod Page, a special agent with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, told The Hutchinson News. "They're looking for backwoods areas where they think they won't be caught."
A large marijuana operation found Oct. 7 in rural Reno County near Haven was one of eight marijuana plots reported this year in Kansas, according to a report in the Hutchinson newspaper.
Page said it was the fourth such plot found in the last two weeks. He said each site had between 3,000 and 4,000 marijuana plants.
In most cases, those who oversee the crop also live on the property, creating a danger for hunters and landowners who are most likely to stumble upon the plots.
"The West Coast has been seeing these types of operations, particularly on state and government ground and forests," Page said. "But it's coming to the Midwest."
In Kansas, 12 outdoor marijuana plots and 1,463 cultivated marijuana plants were eradicated in 2008. Last year, those numbers jumped to 29 plots and 24,478 marijuana plants, including two 10,000-plant operations in Kingman and Sedgwick counties.
Both Page and Dave Mizell, an assistant special agent who oversees the DEA's operations in Kansas, said organized-crime groups that run the operations move out of areas where there is pressure from law enforcement.
"When the heat is on them, they move away to where they think they are not as susceptible, like Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma," Mizell said. "The more significant operations we do believe are organized. Their transportation is organized, they have a better understanding of how to coordinate the plant, and they're monitoring (the crop) and living there 24/7.
"Mainly, it's driven by where can we go where we cause the least suspicion and where can we make a profit," he added, referring to the mind-sets of those who run the marijuana-growing operations. "One expense is law enforcement detecting them and cutting down their product."
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed:420 MAGAZINE
Source:kansascity.com
Author: The Associated Press
Contact: KansasCity.com | Contact Us
Copyright: 2010 The Kansas City Star
Website:Marijuana-growing operations on the rise in Kansas, federal data show - KansasCity.com
Drug Enforcement Administration statistics show that the number of outdoor marijuana operations found in Kansas and neighboring states has increased over the last few years, and in some cases, the number has doubled.
"We're seeing it all over the U.S., but operations are moving to areas in the Midwest, where they think we don't have adequate law enforcement," Rod Page, a special agent with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, told The Hutchinson News. "They're looking for backwoods areas where they think they won't be caught."
A large marijuana operation found Oct. 7 in rural Reno County near Haven was one of eight marijuana plots reported this year in Kansas, according to a report in the Hutchinson newspaper.
Page said it was the fourth such plot found in the last two weeks. He said each site had between 3,000 and 4,000 marijuana plants.
In most cases, those who oversee the crop also live on the property, creating a danger for hunters and landowners who are most likely to stumble upon the plots.
"The West Coast has been seeing these types of operations, particularly on state and government ground and forests," Page said. "But it's coming to the Midwest."
In Kansas, 12 outdoor marijuana plots and 1,463 cultivated marijuana plants were eradicated in 2008. Last year, those numbers jumped to 29 plots and 24,478 marijuana plants, including two 10,000-plant operations in Kingman and Sedgwick counties.
Both Page and Dave Mizell, an assistant special agent who oversees the DEA's operations in Kansas, said organized-crime groups that run the operations move out of areas where there is pressure from law enforcement.
"When the heat is on them, they move away to where they think they are not as susceptible, like Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma," Mizell said. "The more significant operations we do believe are organized. Their transportation is organized, they have a better understanding of how to coordinate the plant, and they're monitoring (the crop) and living there 24/7.
"Mainly, it's driven by where can we go where we cause the least suspicion and where can we make a profit," he added, referring to the mind-sets of those who run the marijuana-growing operations. "One expense is law enforcement detecting them and cutting down their product."
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed:420 MAGAZINE
Source:kansascity.com
Author: The Associated Press
Contact: KansasCity.com | Contact Us
Copyright: 2010 The Kansas City Star
Website:Marijuana-growing operations on the rise in Kansas, federal data show - KansasCity.com
