State and county law enforcement officials have seized more than 2,000 marijuana plants during a marijuana eradication operation this past week.
State and county law enforcement officials have seized more than 2,000 marijuana plants during a marijuana eradication operation this past week.
Hawaii County Area II Vice Lt. Sherry Bird said the state Narcotics Enforcement Division operation had lasted five days as of Wednesday, and resulted in the seizure of 2,252 plants in West Hawaii. No one had been arrested, Bird said. She did not anticipate any arrests, she added.
About a dozen county officers participated in the search for marijuana, Bird said. She did not know, off hand, how many helicopters were used to search for the plants.
A message left for Narcotics Enforcement Chief Keith Kamita did not respond to a message seeking comment on the harvest. A Public Safety Department spokeswoman refused to provide additional details about the operation. The spokeswoman told West Hawaii Today in December the state runs such operations on all islands several times a year.
A message left with the Drug Enforcement Agency’s Honolulu office seeking general information about such operations was not returned as of press time on Wednesday.
In 2008, Hawaii County voters approved a charter amendment instructing the police department to consider marijuana eradication “the lowest law enforcement priority” and telling the department not to accept money to fund any eradication programs.