FREDERIKSTED — Officers of the Special Operations Bureau conducted marijuana eradication operations in the nearby bush area adjacent to the Walter I. M. Hodge Pavilion housing community on Wednesday.
Officers uncovered a full-scale marijuana cultivation operation located in the thick brush that was being used to conceal the illegal cultivation operation, the Virgin Islands Police Department said.
“They confiscated about 600 marijuana plants that varied in size,” VIPD spokesman Toby Derima said. “There also were pots, potting soil and several solar panel lights used as part of the fertilization process.”
Another eradication operation was also implemented in the Williams Delight housing community where at least 60 marijuana plants were confiscated from three different locations, according to Derima.
If you have information about these illegal marijuana cultivation sites, you are urged to call 911, the Crime Tip Line at (340) 778-4950, or Crime Stoppers USVI at (800) 222-TIPS (8477).
Meanwhile, the comments on Facebook tended to side with those in the marijuana growing business.
“That’s why its slow motion to get a panel to help legalize this product because they still want make money locking people up and confiscating their things,” Cleon Evans said on Facebook.
Another reader agreed with Evans.
“Legalize it,” Van Buskirk said on Facebook. “Don’t criticize it.”
“Personally, I think it should not be a crime,” Theresa Marie said from Mechanicsville, Maryland.
“It’s just a plant, shouldn’t even be an issue,” Samantha Olivia Nieves said in Frederiksted.
“Should be legal,” Kate Kelly said from Saratoga Springs, New York.
“So when is it ready for market?” Javier Ureta said from Carlsbad, California.
But a reader in the Facebook group “The World Networking Group & Information, disagreed.
“They should have burn the son of a bitch down,” Jan Blanch said in St. Thomas.
One reader showed support for law enforcement.
“Keep up the good work!” Anthony Solis said in Christiansted.
The Walter I.M. Hodge Pavilion in Estate Smithfield is managed by the Virgin Islands Housing Authority (VIHA).
