Harvest Season?

(Columbia) July 20, 2006 - You might not think of summer as harvest season, but it is for one big cash crop. In the Midlands and around the state, police are trying to find and mow down marijuana. They are having considerable success.
On July 12th, a raid on a West Columbia motel room took 32 pounds of pot off the streets. Three men were arrested.
The following day, Richland County agents found 3,500 plants growing in the North Springs neighborhood, their value estimated at $7 million.
The day after that, near Gilbert, Lexington County officials pick up four suspects, guns, cocaine, cash and 25 pounds of marijuana.
And on Tuesday, back in Richland County, agents find more than a hundred pounds in a freezer. Along with three suspects, investigators hauled in $160,000 in cash.
It's that time of year.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott says it's "pretty much par for the course. Probably the only difference is, we're getting better information that's allowing us to go out and maybe make more seizures than we have in the past."
Statewide, it's more of the same. SLED says over the last fiscal year, police busted 81 plots of pot. That translates to more than 21,000 plants and a total of 38 arrests.
Sheriff Lott talks about one of the factors in the finds, "We're getting close to hunting season. People are in the woods already now, fixing their deer stands, getting ready for the hunting season on August 15th. We're going to see more people stumble across fields."
Richland County and law enforcement around the state will probably have more announcements and more arrests in months to come. The marijuana harvest season traditionally runs from about April through October. So it's only about half over.
The crackdowns on dope dealers happen every year. They require plenty of police resources, but Sheriff Lott says it is worth the effort, "Drugs are probably connected with almost 90 to 95 percent of all crime. Somehow, drugs are connected to it. So if we can reduce drug use, then we're going to reduce other crimes too. Your break-ins, your robberies, your murders."
Richland County has yet to make arrests in the North Springs operation.