Quote Originally Posted by bobbygreenbear
just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you
One of my favorite quotes!

Quote Originally Posted by Delta9 UK
I asked a UK copper staight-up if they look for grow ops in the UK with IR and he said flat-out "No"

He is a well trusted (known him over 20 years) source and says the chopper is so busy on requests that they don't do that sort of thing. Human intelligence (humint) is still the no1 lead they get for busting grow-ops. He's busted a fair few too so he really does know what he's on about.

Obviously this is in one part of the UK - but you can imagine that other Police forces around the UK are the same. The helicopter costs a staggering amount of money to keep airborne and it is constantly responding to officer requests for support.

However.....

I think a whole row of houses with all the loft areas of the houses running grows in them - that would get spotted if the chopper crew bothered to point their IR equipment at it. They are usually pretty busy though - which is good news for us.

He did ask me afterwards if all the weed I was smoking was making me paranoid - lol you gotta laugh, its a fucked up world.
I have several inside contacts as well (very well trusted as I've mentioned before in a few threads) in the States and all of them (including one on a DEA Task Force) gave me almost the same answer. Not enough manpower, or money to pull this kind of thing off. As said earlier, almost ALL busts are due to HI (somoene with knowledge about a grow flipping on you). This type of search is only done when there is strong evidence of a VERY large grow that will gain some publicity for a large grow bust.

****One other thing:

There are two types of IR/UV searches:

1.) Searches for heat in houses and such looking for general heat sources. These are the easier type of grow to disguise. If you follow the FBI protocols for making a room wire (and IR) proof by using several shielding layers as they do in some of their R&D test beds in Quantico, then you can (almost) completely mask the IR signature of a room / building. This methodology can be found in several publications by the FBI (most of them leaked) and is not hard to do. Basically copper mesh and foil layered with a few other things. Can get expensive though. It is mainly found in their manuals regarding how to bug-proof certain areas of a building in counter-espionage efforts.

2.) The type of IR/UV search where they are looking for the specific wavelength of the plants (usually outdoors), not heat signatures from grow setups. Cannabis has a VERY specific heat signature (UV) when grown outdoors and lights up like a christmas tree (even one or two plants) when this method is emplyed. This type of search is VERY hard to prevent/protect against do tue the fact that even below canopy and brush, the signature is still quite plainly visible under copious protective folliage. On the bright side, the equipment for this type of search is also much less common than standard IR cameras such as those used by local and regional LEO's which are used mainly for low light vision in detecting the heat sources of fleeing suspects. The types of equipment I am describing here are used almost exclusively for detecting plant signatures alone, thus their rarity. Most, if not all of them, are operated by the DEA and/or in some cases the FBI. Again - this is rarely, if ever used unless for some reason an LEO (Fed) is tipped (and well informed no less, not just a random call) that grows are in progress in a region and they want to nail several at once. I am a pilot, and fuel is expensive for helos (they use jet fuel), so this type of search is rarely emplyed, but deadly accurate when it is...

Hope this helps