As part of a two-day drug sweep, helicopters could be seen carting away marijuana plants yesterday as three law enforcement agencies stepped up raids across the island. At least four helicopters were used during the sweep, dubbed one of several
As part of a two-day drug sweep, helicopters could be seen carting away marijuana plants yesterday as three law enforcement agencies stepped up raids across the island.
At least four helicopters were used during the sweep, dubbed one of several “super missions” by officials, as part of a combined effort that included members of Kaua‘i police, the Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Police from four of the state’s counties have teamed up with other agencies in the past to conduct such “super missions” in order to eradicate marijuana-growing operations, Kaua‘i’s Assistant Chief Roy Asher said.
The effort comes within two weeks of the largest “green eradication” ever done on public land, in which an estimated $5.9 million-worth of marijuana was said to have been seized in a collaborative effort made by the KPD vice services unit, U.S. marshals and DEA officials said.
Five Kaua‘i residents face felony charges in that case, cultivating more than 1,000 marijuana plants, a Schedule I substance, for which they were arrested Aug. 31.
Asher said more “super mission” sweeps would be conducted today.
