NEWS : 30.1.09 " Marijuana growers busted on Google Earth"

[kingpin007]

08:54 AEST Fri Jan 30 2009

Swiss police said they stumbled across a large marijuana plantation while using Google Earth, the search engine company's satellite mapping software.

Police said the find was part of a bigger investigation that led to the arrest of 16 people and seizure of 1.1 metric tons of marijuana as well as cash and valuables worth 900,000 Swiss francs ($A1.1 million).

Officers discovered the hemp field in the northeastern canton (state) of Thurgau last year while investigating an alleged drug ring, said the head of Zurich police's specialist narcotics unit Norbert Klossner.


The plantation, measuring almost 7,500 square metres, was hidden inside a field of corn. But officers using Google Earth to locate the address of two farmers suspected of involvement in the drug operation quickly spotted the illegal crop.

"It was an interesting chance discovery," said Klossner.

Prosecutor Gabi Alkalay told reporters in Zurich that she plans to complete her criminal investigation in February, after which she will formally charge the 16 suspects and ask for prison sentences for all of them.

The gang is alleged to have sold up to seven tons of hashish and marijuana between 2004 and 2008, with an annual turnover of 3-10 million francs a year, officials said.

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/735317/marijuana-growers-busted-on-google-earth

 

[Amblin]

How unlucky is that considering most of the google images are out of date by quite a bit.

I wonder where this was and if we could see it?

 

[phase_dancer]

^ Is there not a better Google Earth service available which offers more recent images?

 

[WILDSTRAWBERRIES]

"The images are not all taken at the same time, but are generally current to within three years." - Wikipedia

So I suppose if they were selling between 2004 and 2008, then their crops would date back to at least 2004. I didnt think the pictures would be clear enough to spot marijuana in a corn crop??

 

[Amblin]

As far as I'm aware you could go directly to Google's source of the photos, this will get you the most up to date photos.

Unless you knew where you wanted the photos and commisioned them, I would assume what the source had in stock could still be out of date.

How long does a plantation like that take to grow and harvest?

How long do the plants spend in a mature state big enough to be seen in the photos?

Either way i still see them as being very unlucky that the photo had their crop in it.

 

[my innerself]

hehe I actually had the same idea ages ago. After I heard that the police in WA had a large wide spread search of the south west ( Pemberton, Mt Barker and some other areas) and found several different crops, I think they pulled out something like 8000 plants in one weekend alone. So I got on google earth and went looking for plots in areas that looked good for growing. Couldn't find any unfortunately.

 

[col_col83]

How long does a plantation like that take to grow and harvest?

How long do the plants spend in a mature state big enough to be seen in the photos?

Either way i still see them as being very unlucky that the photo had their crop in it.

Well a typical grow only lasts from after last winter frost to first winter frost, lets be generous and say 5 months for the unlucky Swiss. In an operation like that I'd say they would have a big clone stock that they'd be growing under lights all year round so that they are ready to use semi mature plants early in the warm season, thus the plants would be over 15cm from the time they are put in the ground to anywhere near the height of the corn it is growing amongst.

7500m sqr is only 86m x 86m - that's a pretty frikkin small plot to find on google earth, these guys were quite unlucky - or stupid - to have the cops sniffing around the same general area.

 

[Amblin]

^ Thanks

 

[drug_mentor]

That shit is crazy isn't it, poor bastards. I would guess the police had a general idea of the area of their operations, possibly even a vague tipoff. Who knows maybe they are paying people now to sit and scour google earth for marijuana fields now, wouldn't be any more of a waste of money than the rest of the drug war.

 

[dannyburling]

That is very unlucky. They must have been growing in the same spot every year. Maybe this will become a new tool for the drug spotters instead of using choppers and planes.