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Turtle Assists in Pot Bust

Radio monitoring leads officials to marijuana patch

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 1, 2008 1:19 PM CDT

(Newser) – Agent 99, watch out: A 6-inch-long box turtle known as "No. 72” may want your job. Washington, DC, police recently got an assist from No. 72 in making a drug bust, the Washington Post reports. One of several turtles fitted with transmitters that allow National Park Service researchers to track them, No. 72 happened to receive a visit from a scientist while plodding amid some suspicious plants. "I could tell they were marijuana plants," said Ken Ferebee.

"I called the police to come see, because I knew they'd be interested in that," Ferebee continued. Police checked in on the stash occasionally for a few weeks until the grower, a 19-year-old college student, showed up to tend them. He’s been arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute the pound and a half of pot in the patch, worth about $6,500 on the street.

[Images (2)]

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Shown in an undated photo is abox turtle, released by the Missouri Department of Conservation on Thursday, June 21, 2007 in Jefferson City, Mo. (AP Photo)

The bud of a marijuana plant grown by George and Jean Hanamoto is seen at their home in the Mendocino County community of Willits, Calif., Wednesday, May 28, 2008. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

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As I'm walking, I could see a patch of bare soil that didn't look quite right. - Ken Ferebee, National Park Service researcher

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Turtle Assists in Pot Bust