Yamhill County Interagency Narcotics Team agents discovered a large marijuana grow operation northwest of McMinnville, off Peavine Road. More than 550 marijuana plants were seized.

Submitted photo

The Yamhill County Interagency Narcotics Team fanned out this week in an area about 12 miles northwest of McMinnville, off Peavine Road, to seize more than 550 marijuana plants worth an estimated $600,000.

YCINT agents were assisted by officers from the McMinnville and Newberg-Dundee police departments, the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office, the Oregon State Police and OSP’S SWAT Team.

“We had an idea the grow was up there, but we couldn’t find it with the help of a National Guard search,” said Sheriff’s Capt. Ken Summers. “We went up with our air support and spotted it,” he said, referring to a specially equipped county helicopter.

Quantities of food and supplies were discovered, along with camping equipment and an outdoor cooking area. That suggested growers had been camped in the area to care for the plants.

However, YCINT agents were not able to locate anyone when they descended on the site, so no arrests have yet been made.
The grow was located on timberland owned by Forest Capital Partners, a private investment firm that acquires and manages large-scale, investment-grade woodlands across the country. The firm, which maintains an office in Portland, has acquired more than 2 1/2 million acres of American timberland in the last eight years.

“The grow appeared to have been abandoned two or three weeks earlier,” said Sgt. Dwayne Willis, a McMinnville police officer assigned to YCINT. But he said, “We seized evidence that might help make some identifications.”

As agents were taking the grow down, they discovered and seized 30 plants that had been harvested about three miles away. “The grows are not associated,” Willis said.

“The larger grow appears to be a DTO operation,” he said, using an acronym for international drug-trafficking organizations. “The smaller one obviously is not. It was just someone growing some marijuana.”

Growers typically plant between late April and late June, and harvest from late July until the middle of October. He said plants usually are harvested before the first frost hits.

The sergeant praised the work of the county’s air support unit, saying its FLIR-equipped helicopter always has been at YCINT’s disposal when needed.