At least one Bladen County farmer lost a million-dollar crop Friday-courtesy of law officers.

Chief Deputy Phillip Little of the Bladen County Sheriff's Department said a marijuana field near the Tar Heel boat landing was one of the best cared for authorities have seen lately. The patch was accessible only by water, about 1.5 miles downriver from the landing.

"Someone put some time and effort into this," he said. "They put some work in on this pot."

Nearly 400 plants, valued at a total of $1 million, were uprooted by sheriff's deputies, narcotics agents and N.C. Wildlife Enforcement officers.

The field was discovered during a routine helicopter patrol by local authorities. The program is funded in part through the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The patch was near the place where Wildlife Officer Jay Ferguson arrested two men earlier this summer for manufacturing marijuana.

That field and the one destroyed Friday were maintained "better than some folks keep their gardens," Little said.

Little said the plants were fertilized, and pesticides had been used to protect the crop from insects.

The patch was also above the floodplain, but still near a reliable body of water. The area showed evidence that the site had been prepared in advance of the planting, Little said.

The farmer. Little said, would likely have had a large yield of high quality marijuana if officers hadn't discovered the patch.

"Those were some healthy plants," Little said. "We put a hurting on someone's wallet."

Little said because surveillance would have been difficult, if not impossible, officers decided to destroy the field, rather than wait for the farmer to return.

The site was inaccessible by car or truck, Little said. Wildlife Officer Ferguson and Sgt. Andy Waldrop supplied a large johnboat and transported agents to the pot field.

Ferguson said the operation "was just like" the one he discovered in June while on routine patrol on the Cape Fear River.

"They had quite an operation here," Ferguson said, looking across the piles of marijuana plants filling the bow of the boat.

Little said the crop was ready to harvest, although most pot farmers in the area wait until September to gather the illegal weed.

Such busts are becoming more common, Little said, because North Carolina usually ranks fourth in the nation in domestic marijuana production.

Many growers are switching to indoor operations, Little said, but local authorities have still raided around a dozen outdoor marijuana operations this year in Bladen County.

No arrests have been made in Friday's raid, Little said. The investigation is continuing.

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