| The West Virginia State Police is being ranked second in the nation for the amount of marijuana plants destroyed this year.
Police have made 180 felony arrests and have destroyed more than 420,000 plants, according to Capt. S.R. Dawson of the state police Philippi detachment.
Police eradicated about 1,700 plants in Calhoun and have made multiple arrests. Police destroyed 12,000 plants in Gilmer County.
West Virginia is second to California, which has eradicated more than 1 million plants.
Most of the WV plants were discovered during flyovers, but other times it was linked to tips from the public.
The plants are taken to a central place and lit on fire with fuel and burned.
State Police have not run into any problems this year, but last year they encountered a crop protected by booby traps. A marijuana grower had placed a stick of dynamite near a tree that would explode if triggered by a trip wire.
In another case last year, a grower who was protecting his crops fired a gun at a police helicopter.
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