What would you do if you or friends had drug growers on your land?

[Guest]

This is a common problem for people who own rural properties. I'm just curious about what people would do. For example, pot farmers often hang fishhooks at eye height from monofilament around their growing areas, along with worse traps. Imagine if your child stumbled into that.

[Sindawe]

First: Roundup to kill the offending cultivated plants.  Followup that with liberal application of skunk musk on ALL equipment the growers may have left about.  Then create a berm to use as a backstop on your "New" shooting range.  That just happens to have the line of fire over the former cultivation area.

[charby]

Call the Sheriff or local authories, go from there.

[Art Eatman]

the big problem is wrongful accusation of ownership.  What I would do is not at all what I'd want to do, given my attitude about the (IMO) foolishness of the War On Some Drugs.

I have the advantage of having known our resident deputy for nearly twenty years.  So, I'd give him a call, avoiding 911, and let him know what I'd found.

I'd rather find out whether the "perps" were strangers or were folks I know.  Strangers?  Politely, "Go elsewhere."  Folks I know?  "Go elsewhere."  But I'd give a lecture about the hazard to which they had put me, given the nature of today's world of the War on Drugs.  "Don't insult me, don't put me at risk."

Back a number of years ago, one of our deputies back-trailed a burro train, knowing the smugglers had already made their drop.  He came to a road that runs along my west boundary line.  On a hunch he stopped at the edge of a fairly steep slope and walked around to look in a ravine.  The ravine ended against the road.  He found a small cave; in it weree 200 kilos of Sweet Grass.  While we all knew who owned it, the joke around the community was whether it was my Goodies or did it belong to the Acostas, the smugglers.  (If you run across the book "Drug Lord" by Terence Pappa, it's worth the read.  The Drug Lord, Pablo Acosta, was a nephew of my neighbor.)

It helps to know your LEOs...

, Art

[roo_ster]

I don't believe in the WoSD, but not only are the stoners growing wacky tobaccy, but they are also trespassing & likely causing damage.

Call the cops on the trespassers.  If they end up getting charged for the drugs, I won't lose any sleep.

[Bookskin]

I would opt to call LEO, let them know what had been found, and leave it to them.

[crt360]

Great question.  Be careful.  I'd probably discuss it with someone I trust (maybe a local judge) before I contacted law enforcement.  It's your land and you are technically in possession of enough illegal stuff to face a considerable prison sentence (or at least a nasty criminal prosecution) if the LEO's don't like you, don't believe you, or happen to be buddies with the folks who planted the stuff.  Be careful.

It's an added incentive to scout your rural properties on a regular basis (and do a lot of shooting).  With all of the open property to grow plants on they probably will choose the places where they are least likely to be shot.  Be careful.

[Azrael256]

Find a good defense attorney.  Have him call the sheriff.

I find it hard to believe that the DA would want to prosecute a landowner for an operation that is clearly not his, especially if it happens to be in an isolated area of the land.  I do, however, think it would be very wise to have someone fluent in legalese draft the statement to the sheriff so it is clear from the first word that it is somebody else's operation.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Yeah, I'd call a lawyer first.  The cops would need to know eventually, but it makes sense to make sure you're protected first.  Most cops are honorable folks, but a few aren't.  It doesn't make sense to hand one of the "bad" cops all the ammunition he needs to send you away for a very long time.

The cops are your friend, right up until they think you've committed a crime.  Then they're your mortal enemy.  So be careful with this one.

[280plus]

The cops are your friend, right up until they think you've committed a crime.  Then they're your mortal enemy.

'Round here we call that "Instant A**hole"

[Sindawe]

but they are also trespassing & likely causing damage.

Too me, that is the crux of the matter.  I care not if the stoners wanna grow ganja.  Just grow it on your own property, not mine.

[jefnvk]

Bloody head on a pike.  Nothing says 'stay the hell out' like a bloody head on a pike.

Although, getting the head may cause more problems for you than someone growing pot on your property

[matis]

I think Art may have at least alluded to this in his post above.


There's not only the danger that YOU will be prosecuted.

With today's asset forfeiture laws, you also risk losing your property.


I'd see an attorney well-versed in this area of the law first.




Carry cash to some auction or other and get stopped by the cops.

You may find that the definition of "highway robbery" has shifted.


matis

[brimic]

The other side of wrongful accusation of ownership is if you decide to keep it quiet and cut the weed down. Law enforcement may have it staked out, you go in with a machete and start hacking away, you are now 'harvesting.'

[Sindawe]

Bloody head on a pike.  Nothing says 'stay the hell out' like a bloody head on a pike.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA! jefnvk, you're my kind of people.  If you ever move to Colorado, I'd be happy to have you has a neighbor.

[Sergeant Bob]

Bloody head on a pike.  Nothing says 'stay the hell out' like a bloody head on a pike.

Nothing says "stay the hell away from my weed" like a bloody head on a pike either.
My neighbor (a farmer) had someone growing weed on his property in a corn field. His son discovered the plants (over a hundred and over ten feet tall) the plants and reported it to the police. The authorities had a big pot burning party at the guy's house on an old silo base right by the road. I saw it on the way home from work.
A month or so later, the young man went out bow hunting for deer, but hadn't returned by 9 pm, so his dad went out looking for him. He found him near his tree stand, dead. Stabbed in the chest.
Legal consequences are the least of your worries.
Another victim of the "War on Drugs".

[brimic]

A month or so later, the young man went out bow hunting for deer, but hadn't returned by 9 pm, so his dad went out looking for him. He found him near his tree stand, dead. Stabbed in the chest.
Legal consequences are the least of your worries.
Another victim of the "War on Drugs".

Yes, because without the 'war on drugs' tresspassing and murder would be perfectly acceptable behavior.

[Strings]

no... without the WoSD, pot growing would be perfectly acceptable behavior...

 Personally, I prefer the idea of booby-trapping the plants. Then again, I don't like ANY form of trespasser...

[Art Eatman]

A buddy of mine (some 30+ years ago) decided to grow a little pot in his own back land.  All was well, his crop grew, quite nicely, and he looked forward to a session of financial security.

And then one day, while up town doing some farm/ranch business, he was "Howdied" by a local deputy:  "John, you reckon you could spend some time with your shredder, in tht far back pasture?"

Well, since shredding was better than jail, he shredded.  With tears in his eyes.

Art

[Strings]

Blackburn, you're just too violent for my tastes. I don't want to put anyone's eye out, I just want them to recieve a blast of some kind at crotch level. Nothing all THAT violent...

[Sergeant Bob]

Yes, because without the 'war on drugs' tresspassing and murder would be perfectly acceptable behavior.

I know you have to be smarter than that.