By Patrick McArdle
STAFF WRITER

WINHALL — When about 250 marijuana plants were eradicated in Winhall on Sunday, it was an unusually large operation for the town, according to Winhall Police Chief Jeffrey Whitesell.

“That was the largest (crop) in the 15 years that I’ve been here as chief,” Whitesell said.

In a press release, Detective Trooper Tyson Kinney, of the Vermont State Police barracks in Brattleboro, said the estimated value of the marijuana, if it had been processed and sold, would have been between $500,000 and $1 million.

According to Kinney, the marijuana plants were located within a swamp near the intersection of Stone Cabin Road and Pikes Falls Road in Winhall on Saturday. The plants were identified by officers with the Vermont State Police’s Marijuana Eradication Response Team who were conducting a reconnaissance mission by helicopter.

Police said the plants, which numbered about 250 ranging from eight to 12 feet tall, were spread out over about two-thirds of a mile.

On Sunday, troopers and officers with the Winhall Police Department eradicated the marijuana at the site.

“We prevented the drugs from getting to the streets,” Whitesell said.
Whitesell said the cultivation of marijuana can be a problem in town.

“There’s a large area of Winhall that’s wilderness and National Forest property. On occasion you get people that will want to take advantage of that fact that it’s a more rural setting,” he said.