Russia Busts Pot Growers… From Space
EmailABC's Alexander Marquardt reports from Moscow: Russia’s drug police now have another weapon in their arsenals – spy satellites. A senior Russian counter-narcotics official in Russia’s Far East said Thursday that his forces are teaming up with the country’s space agency – Roscosmos – to find and destroy cannabis fields. "We have been in contact with Roscosmos since late last year," Lt. Gen. Alexander Rolik told reporters, according to state-run news agency RIA Novosti. Rolik said Roscosmos sends the police the coordinates of the fields, which are then destroyed. So far, the partnership has resulted in the destruction of 119 acres of marijuana and the seizure of 4.4 tons. “We provide all regional departments of the Federal Drug Control Service with video and photo materials and our monitoring,” Roscosmos spokesman Alexander Vorobjev told ABC News, declining to disclose their methods. Gen. Rolik told reporters that satellites have been used successfully in the Amur and Ural regions of the country, according to RIA Novosti’s report. A year ago, Swiss police spotted a hemp field on Google Earth measuring almost two acres.
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What a waste! Russia has many more serious problems than this.
Posted by: Gerald | January 21, 2010, 11:37 am 11:37 am
Big Brother…it’s enough to make you paranoid.
Posted by: Newsprism | January 21, 2010, 3:33 pm 3:33 pm
And we thought only the US Government was stupid enough to engage in an un-winnable drug war…
Posted by: Alex | January 21, 2010, 3:45 pm 3:45 pm
Way to go Russia! we need to do the same thing here in the USA.
Posted by: mario | January 21, 2010, 4:48 pm 4:48 pm
no, now there’s two dumb enough to fight a war on drugs…..odd change, russia started in Afghanistan and we started the war od drugs….both failed miserably and pot cannot be stopped…let it be and good luck with that Mario
Posted by: Tom, Long Beach, California | January 21, 2010, 4:51 pm 4:51 pm
I really hope that the misled fools who want to make cannabis extinct realize the Truth before they realize their goal; that cannabis CURES CANCER. Do YOU want to be responsible for destroying that? We’re already responsible for every cancer death in America as long as this prohibition continues. Think about it. This news from Russia is scary stuff. Let’s hope to whatever you believe in that it isn’t happening here yet…
Posted by: Philo | January 21, 2010, 5:39 pm 5:39 pm
There they go in circles like a dog chasing its tale. They’re fighting a war with violence and large sums of money over a problem that isn’t crime but is a health problem.
Posted by: RB | January 21, 2010, 11:26 pm 11:26 pm
Does this mean that Boris Yeltzen
is making a come back?
Vodka rules !!!!
Posted by: Lyman | January 22, 2010, 12:46 am 12:46 am
They should use that here in N. California to bust the Mexican drug gangs growing on federal land. Last year they found hundreds of thousands of plants and probably got just 10% of the patches. Those people are serious criminals, look at the border wars, not someone you would want to meet while out camping, hiking or hunting.
Posted by: Kin | January 22, 2010, 12:58 am 12:58 am
The amount of money spent to fight drug use and incarcerate criminals is beyond idiotic, doesn’t anyone pay attention to history? Just legalize that crap, dry up the sources of revenue for drug dealers and TERRORISTS, and then use money from the taxes on the drugs to help people. There will always be a percentage of people that abuse whatever they can get their hands on, but does anyone really think that those people are not doing those drugs NOW?
Posted by: roaring 20's | January 22, 2010, 2:33 am 2:33 am
People are so stupid! Don’t they know they can make hemp bricks? Hemp medicine? Hemp cloths? Blankets, silk, rope, shampoo, food, and the list goes on and on. You can even fuel your car with hemp.
I guess in this age the stupid are in control.
Posted by: DrReaper | January 22, 2010, 12:02 pm 12:02 pm
OK Alex, but we’ll pay for it with YOUR tax dollars, not mine.
Get serious about the real problems we have for goodness sake and stop being such a busy-body. “Oh, no! One of my neighbors is growing a… a… plant! Arrest them at once!”
I know, I know, these are big criminal enterprises… but enterprises that can only exist because you’d otherwise react: “Oh, no! One of my neighbors is growing a… a… plant! Arrest them at once!”
See… it’s a weed. You can’t make a criminal career and a vast fortune off a weed unless that weed is… wait for it… illegal. See what you’re doing?
The police have more important things to do than pull weeds.
Posted by: Allen | January 22, 2010, 2:05 pm 2:05 pm
yes the police and hiway patrol…should be out writing more traffic tickets…lol
Posted by: ken | January 23, 2010, 9:37 pm 9:37 pm
rock on dr reaper. hemp is an amazing thing. it was once illegal not to grow it back a long time ago. we wouldn be in this crappy depression if it were legal.
Posted by: kdog | January 29, 2010, 8:57 am 8:57 am
all i have to say that govenment profits directly from every seized crop or fields, and if you dont believe me ask Bill Clinton.
Posted by: Rising Lion | February 27, 2010, 2:12 pm 2:12 pm