Jona Ison

Reporter

The remoteness of Pike County's wooded countryside makes it a perfect place for Mexican cartels trying to grow marijuana stateside.

In 2010, an estimated 22,000-plant crop was found about 4 miles into the woods off Green Ridge and Grassy Fork roads. Two years later, another 1,200 plants were found on the other side of the county just off Hickson Road. No one was arrested either time, said Pike County Prosecutor Rob Junk.

"Everybody who was working those things took off before law enforcement could catch them," Junk said.

Officials said items left behind at camp sites used to guard the crops linked the operations to cartels. Cartels have been tied to similar operations elsewhere in the state, including another in 2010 where hunters tipped off officials to a camp and grow site at the Coshocton/Muskingum county line. Officials found 6,000 plants and 11 men were taken into custody.

The two marijuana operations in Pike County, valued at an estimated $23 million, are the only cases Junk recalls being related to some kind of organized crime. However, the execution-style slayings of eight members of the Rhoden family on Friday have people wondering if there hasn't been something lurking under the surface and under the noses of law enforcement.

Although commercial marijuana operations were found growing at three of the four murder scenes, officials have not said whether they believe they have anything to do with the deaths.

"We have a drug problem in Pike County like everybody else, mostly heroin and methamphetamine," Junk said.

Drug and narcotic offenses tripled in Pike County between 2013 and 2014, according to the FBI's National Incident Based Reporting System. Statewide, offenses increased just over 11 percent.

At least part of the increase can be attributed to the Pike County Sheriff's Office recommitting resources to drug investigations with the U.S. 23 Major Crimes Task Force. Pike and its law enforcement partners in Ross, Pickaway and Fayette counties all dedicated investigators back to the task force in early 2014. The task force's efforts had been limited for several years as departments made cuts to accommodate tighter budgets caused by the recession.

That year, the task force also took in 1.4 pounds of heroin, a half-pound of crack, 509 prescription painkillers, more than 289 pounds of marijuana, and indicted 63 for trafficking heroin and six for trafficking marijuana, according to reports filed with the Department of Public Safety.The task force is regularly finding meth labs across the region, often after receiving tips like one in January that led them to a Piketon motel and a Dumpster. In 2014, the task force reported finding 81 meth labs and indicting 85 people for manufacturing meth and 12 for trafficking meth across its region.

Investigators also have a new criminal drug venture showing up. In late January, a package at the Piketon post office arrived smelling of marijuana, leading law enforcement eventually to a "shatter" lab on Beaver Creek Road, where a large amount of oil was being extracted from marijuana, Junk said. Like meth labs, shatter labs are volatile and prone to exploding.

The extracted oil can be added to food products or a cigarette, with just a few drops being as potent as a full joint, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency.

No arrests have been made in the case and Junk has yet to see the case because investigators are still awaiting lab results, he said.

jison@Gannett.com

Twitter: @JonaIson

James Pilcher of the Cincinnati Enquirer contributed to this report.

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