Published: July 10, 2009 08:03 pm      

NCSO busts pot farm

Illicit weed found growing near Emhouse

From Staff Reports



Another marijuana farm discovered near Emhouse in northern Navarro County was raided Thursday.

Deputies from the Navarro County Sheriff’s Office, agents of the Texas Department of Public Safety Narcotics Service and Aircraft Section, and the Drug Enforcement Agency Dallas Region took part in the bust, according to a new release from Mike Cox, Navarro County’s chief deputy.

Acting on intelligence developed by the Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Division, officers were able to locate the plants — some over eight feet tall — in a clandestine field cleared in a wooded area about three miles west of the Emhouse community, Cox said. 

No arrests were made at the scene. Narcotics investigators are actively tracking the ownership of the property and the growers.

Over the past year, deputies have found several marijuana-growing operations in secluded parts of the county, including several near Thursday’s find.

On May 27, deputies discovered and seized 2,500 marijuana seedlings on private property east of Corsicana off Texas Highway 31 in the heavily wooded Trinity River Bottom.

In September and October 2008, three separate raids near Rice and Emhouse turned up large amounts of the illicit weed being grown — some with fairly sophisticated operations. All of the farms were located in similar areas with heavy overgrowth to provide cover from passing motorists and overhead observation.

Deputies and agents seized approximately 1,000 marijuana plants in Thursday’s raid. The seized marijuana has a street value of approximately $550,000, Cox said.

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