TULALIP – Police on Thursday found an estimated $1 million worth of marijuana plants growing in a wooded area on the Tulalip Indian Reservation.
The 1,000-plant marijuana garden covered about an acre south of Spee-Bi-Dah beach, Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force Sgt. John Flood said.
Thick underbrush and fallen trees made the plants impossible to spot from Marine Drive, but the bright green leaves were easily visible from the air, Flood said.
The outdoor garden was the first discovered by the task force in a four-day helicopter search around the county. The sweep was funded in part by a $23,000 federal grant.
Most of the marijuana plants were half-grown, but several topped 10 feet. Marijuana takes three to four months to mature.
“They weren’t to the point they could sell this stuff, but they were close,” detective Sgt. Jim Duffy said.
The crop appeared to be carefully tended. Hundreds of feet of garden hose fed by a nearby creek kept the plants watered, and several trees were cut down to ensure that the marijuana received plenty of sunlight.
The growers “definitely put a lot of work into fertilizing and watering the plants. They took some time to plan this out,” Duffy said.
A team of task force detectives and Tulalip Tribes police officers used a machete to hack a path to the marijuana plants.
Police pulled out the plants and stuffed them in large burlap bags normally used for coffee beans. The plants were bound for destruction.
The task force finds only about 10 percent of all marijuana grown outdoors in Snohomish County, Flood said, and he feared they would spot even less this year.
The warm summer weather likely led to an earlier harvest, he said. But the grow found Thursday easily topped 2003’s total of about 250 plants.
“This is considered a huge success,” Flood said.
The Tulalip Reservation’s dense woods are among the places in the county most often used by drug growers trying to hide their clandestine crops.
Police found a small outdoor growing operation on the reservation during its sweep last year. And last week, Tulalip Tribes Police Chief Jay Goss discovered an indoor marijuana-growing operation while investigating a burglary.
Detectives don’t know whether the two marijuana crops are connected. They also do not know who planted the 1,000 plants found Thursday. Finding the drug growers can be extremely difficult, Flood said.
The task force continues its search for outdoor marijuana today.
Reporter Katherine Schiffner: 425-339-3436 or schiffner@heraldnet.com.
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