INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Indiana State Police Sgt. Lou Perras has been fighting illegal marijuana growing operations in farm fields across the state for 20 years.

“It is a huge problem. It devalues the farm fields and public lands of Indiana,” said Perras. The most serious problem area is in southern Indiana in the thickly wooded hills of the Hoosier National Forest, but the problem has shown up in all 92 counties, he said.

Earlier this month, he and his Indiana State Police Marijuana Eradication Team, along with members of the LaPorte County Metro Operations Unit, removed 40 marijuana plants from the middle of a cornfield in LaPorte County, just west of the city of La Porte.

Perras said the 40 plants, which filled the bed of a pickup truck, had a street value of $120,000. While that doesn’t sound like much, consider these numbers: Last year, Perras and his team removed 88,657 plants from 1,001 grow plots around the state. At the same time, they made 617 arrests and confiscated 238 weapons.

So far this year, the Marijuana Eradication Team has removed 33,816 plants from 550 sites. There have been 466 arrests and 122 weapons confiscated.

The team was formed two decades ago as a seasonal effort to find plots in farm fields and remove ditch weed in the fall. Today, it’s a year-round effort that’s funded by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration from money and property confiscated from drug dealers.

“The illegal drug trade is funding this program,” Perras pointed out.

He estimated that over his 20-year career, he and his team have cleared thousands of acres of marijuana. The growers, many of whom work for cartels in Mexico, start marijuana plants in their garage or basement, then commandeer a cornfield nearby. They cut down healthy corn and transplant the marijuana.

The corn, which is taller than the marijuana, hides the illegal plant from passing motorists, although from the air the plant can be spotted because its coloring is a different shade of green than corn. Aerial surveillance has been easier this year since the state’s corn crop turned brown earlier than normal because of the drought, making the bright green marijuana plants even more visible from the air.

But even with all that information, it’s not always easy to spot marijuana in the middle of a cornfield. When Starke County farmer Larry Jernas realized someone had poached a portion of his cornfield, it was too late to do anything about it. A couple of years ago, under cover of night, marijuana growers cleared out a 20-by-50-foot area of corn and planted marijuana.

The only consolation for Jernas is when he found out, he was in the cab of his combine harvesting his crop. He reached the marijuana plot before the growers could harvest their crop – and in the blink of an eye, it was gone, chopped by his combine.

Jernas, the District 1 president of the Indiana Farm Bureau, said that’s the only time it’s happened to him, but he’s aware it’s becoming a big problem across Indiana. “They don’t need a very big area to put in a lot of plants,” he said.

While the loss of corn is miniscule, Jernas said the loss of privacy he felt lingered much longer than the discovery of the marijuana plants. In his case, whomever was growing the marijuana rolled up on ATVs and planted their own crop not far from the edge of his field.

“Really, it’s an annoyance,” said Jernas. “I don’t go planting my crops on other people’s property, so why should they use mine?”

Over the years, Perras said illegal marijuana growing operations have changed. In the early 1990s, growers would hack out a 200-by-200-foot swath. Today, because of especially potent THC in marijuana, fewer plants, and thus smaller plots, are needed.

Perras said 20 years ago, the THC in marijuana (the active ingredient that causes the “high”) was between1-3 percent. Today, because of genetic breeding, the THC content is as high as 20 percent. One plant can provide up to one pound of processed marijuana, which can sell for between $3,000-$5,000.

“They’re making more money on their crop than the farmer is on his,” said Perras.

He said his 17-member team is especially busy this time of year because, just like for farmers, it’s harvest time for marijuana growers.

“Not only are they raising an illegal drug, they’re trespassing. And they could be dangerous,” said Perras. “They use chemicals to tend their plants in heavy doses, and some of them are illegal in the United States.”

Those chemicals leach into the soil and wind up as runoff in nearby streams and creeks, creating an environmental problem for farmers, said Perras. Beyond that, he said some of the growers are armed and dangerous. He said any farmer who thinks someone is in his field should not confront them. Instead, he advised them to call police.

“One of the biggest things farmers can do is to be observant. If you see suspicious vehicles or people being dropped off, call police,” said Perras. “This is not the kind of thing a farmer wants to be walking into alone.”

He added it is frustrating at times to keep battling the same problem year after year, but each time his team eliminates a marijuana plot, he knows it won’t be sold to Hoosiers.

“It’s just that much marijuana that’s not on the street,” said Perras. “You have to remember that all of the dope that’s grown here in Indiana stays local.”

Jernas is glad the eradication team is being vigilant. He was surprised at the extent of the problem around the state, but said one recent innovation in agriculture may be an unexpected tool in the fight against marijuana.

“With farmers starting to use Roundup Ready corn, you can go in there and spray just about any time, and when you do that, you’ll kill the marijuana if it’s there,” said Jernas.

It may be one reason, said Perras, his team has discovered plots of dead marijuana plants this year.