Authorities Look For Suspects And For More Marijuana In Nowata County

By Jeffrey Smith, The News On 6

NOWATA COUNTY -- Nowata County Sheriff's deputies picked up a man matching the description of a suspected pot farmer. The man was walking down the highway, close to where deputies discovered more than 32,000 marijuana plants, cultivated on public land.

He has been interviewed by deputies and the DEA, but denies being a pot grower. He is still be held, for being in the country illegally.

Nowata County Sheriff's deputies spotted five men when they first arrived Saturday night. They tracked them using night vision goggles, but the men escaped.

The sheriff's office says agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration have questioned a possible suspect. 

The Nowata County Sheriff's Office burned 32,166 marijuana plants Sunday night and they're now saying that was just the tip of the iceberg. Sheriff's deputies tell The News On 6 they're confident more is out there.

The 32,166 marijuana plants were painstakingly plucked out of the ground, counted and ultimately burned.

The Nowata County Sheriff's Office is working to get to the bottom of who ran the biggest pot farm they've ever seen.  They feel the men may be back.

"There's always that possibility, sure. Can't say for sure, but I believe that's not the only operation they've got going on in our little county," said Sonenberg.

Deputies say it was a sophisticated operation -- seven pot fields circling a central campground with a makeshift irrigation system.

"I think it's just the start, yes," said Nowata County Undersheriff Doug Sonenberg. "We really feel that we've stumbled onto an extremely large operation."

5/2/2010  Related Story: Authorities Destroy More Than 32,000 Marijuana Plants Growing In Nowata County

Deputies say the men planted the pot in the middle of 12,000 acres of public hunting land off County Road 420, near Oologah Lake.

"This doesn't even rival, this is the biggest one I've seen," said Deputy Jay Long, Nowata County.

State Park rangers say the soil is rich because of the number of nearby creeks and the thick brush makes the plants easy to hide.

"There's a lot of this area we don't get to see all the time. That'd be a good area for them to do it," said Jason Person, park ranger.

Sonenberg says they plan on flying over the land several times and they're willing to work with any state agency that'll lend a helping hand.

The News On 6 learned the Nowata County Sheriff's Office put in a formal request to the Air National Guard Monday morning to fly over the area in a helicopter. That flight will happen on Friday.