Marijuana or pot tileForestry officials aren't just experts when it comes to trees. Certain other vegetation catches their eye, too.
On Sept. 7, Cherokee County, Ala., deputies and Alabama Forestry Commission officials teamed up on surveillance of a marijuana patch in the Leesburg area near Alabama Highway 273, according to a Cherokee County Sheriff Jeff Shaver.
Forestry officials and deputies spotted Kenneth Leroy Mackey tending the plants that day and had observed James C. Wainwright and Jerry Allen Walker tending the plants on previous days, according to Shaver's news release.
Officers also found that the suspects were using counter surveillance on their pot patch but the cameras apparently didn't help them avoid notice and charges of first-degree unlawful possession of marijuana, Shaver said.
Officers ended up seizing the cameras, a stolen pickup truck and an all-terrain vehicle that was in Mackey's possession, Shaver said. Mackey also was charged with two counts of first-degree receiving stolen property.
Cherokee County Jail officials said all three men were released on bond, and no court date has been set.