Up in smoke: Task force burns marijuana

WARREN — The Trumbull Ashtabula Group Law Enforcement Task Force on Monday destroyed the 274 marijuana plants it had seized on Friday from locations in Hartford and Brookfield townships.

TAG was working with the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, said Jeff Orr, commander of TAG.

It is about the fourth time this year that marijuana plants have been found using a helicopter, Orr said. Previous efforts have netted about 200, 90, and 70 plants, he said. Each plant has a street value of about $1,000.

Most of the time, the plants are located in a corn field, and the farmer doesn’t know the plants are there, Orr said, explaining that no charges have been filed in the most recent drug find.

Typically the pot grower removes a few corn plants and replaces them with marijuana, which grows to a similar height as the corn, Orr said.