SAGINAW TOWNSHIP -- It’s a big year for drug busts in Mid-Michigan.
More than four million dollars worth of marijuana plants have been recovered by law enforcement.
The drug raid is part of the Domestic Cannabis Eradication Suppression Program.
The result of that effort is impressive, and it was brought in for the media to see in a trailer pulled by a pickup truck.
Piles and piles of marijuana, it's worth more than 4.2 million dollars and was found by authorities in six counties in Mid-Michigan.
“Our intent as law enforcement is to keep those drugs off the street and to hold those suspects accountable,” said the Saginaw Township Police Chief, Donald Pussehl.
24 people have been charged with manufacturing marijuana.
Since August, the Bay Area Narcotics Enforcement Team, or BAYANET, has raided ditches, corn fields, and wooded areas looking for drugs.
More than 4,000 plants were found in just three days.
"We even had some officers searching a wooded area for a suspect that run from us a couple weeks ago, and stumbled across four or five marijuana plants," said Pussehl.
Authorities say drug manufactures target corn fields because of their remote locations.
Once the drug manufacturer picks a corn field, they use GPS units to find the exact coordinates of where the patch is growing, police say without these, it’s very easy to get lost.
"It can be just about anywhere that they can try to hide it, grow it and then use it later on," said Pussehl.
The weather this summer made it easier for criminals to grow marijuana.
“As we see with other crops, marijuana crops are no different, it’s going to grow well in the heat and the warm weather that we've had,” said Pussehl.
Central Michigan University and the Soaring Eagle Casino make Isabella County a hot spot for manufacturing drugs. The sheriff says arrests have tripled since 2005.
“There is always room for improvement, BAYANET only has so many officers,” said Isabella County Sheriff Leo Mioduszewski.
Overall, Mid-Michigan police chiefs say they're pleased with BAYANET's efforts, but what they've collected is just a fraction of what's left out there.
These drug cases are not related to any medical marijuana grow operations in Mid-Michigan.
BAYANET recovered the marijuana plants in Saginaw, Bay, Midland, Gladwin, Isabella, and Clare counties.
