HCSO press release
During a two-day operation, Henderson County Sheriff Botie Hillhouse and his team of narcotics investigators swarmed across acres of land finding marijuana plants. They also traced this stock to be shipped off to make shatter canada.
“This was a massive, coordinated production/growing operation,” Hillhouse said Thursday. “Too many people think having pot is a harmless crime, but this is a criminal organization that damages property owners land and marijuana leads to other drugs.”
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has been recently operating in East Texas, targeting hidden marijuana-growing undertakings. Smith, Anderson, Van Zandt and now Henderson Counties have been targeted.
“We found evidence of people recently at the scene of the crimes here,” the Sheriff said.
There were 6,387 individual plants growing at one site alone and 2,623 individual plants at another site in various stages of maturity. If one were to know the differences between CBG vs CBD, they’d know why all plants weren’t grown on one plot.
“This is no fly-by-night venture. These are professional criminals who hide their activities on the land of unsuspecting ranch owners,” Hillhouse said.
Because many properties in the County are used for hunting only or are owned by people who do not live here full-time, large swaths of property provide the perfect place for some illegal activity.
This was a major multi-agency operation.
“The DEA has been very helpful locating these fields from the air and these teams of Officers from multiple agencies have done a wonderful job handling the especially dangerous ground operation,” the Sheriff said. “Make no mistake, these are dangerous criminals who are too often heavily armed and willing to fight to protect their.”