Swiss police spy marijuana field with Google Earth

[Sporkman]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090129/eu_switzerland_dope_farmers.html?.v=2


Swiss police spy marijuana field with Google Earth

Thursday January 29, 10:59 am ET

Swiss police use Google Earth to search for suspect farmers, find marijuana field

ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) -- Swiss police said Thursday they stumbled across a large marijuana plantation while using Google Earth, the search engine company's satellite mapping software.

Police said the find was part of a bigger investigation that led to the arrest of 16 people and seizure of 1.2 tons (1.1 metric tons) of marijuana as well as cash and valuables worth 900,000 Swiss francs ($780,000).

Officers discovered the hemp field in the northeastern canton (state) of Thurgau last year while investigating an alleged drug ring, said the head of Zurich police's specialist narcotics unit Norbert Klossner.

The plantation, measuring almost two acres (7,500 square meters), was hidden inside a field of corn. But officers using Google Earth to locate the address of two farmers suspected of involvement in the drug operation quickly spotted the illegal crop.

"It was an interesting chance discovery," said Klossner.

Prosecutor Gabi Alkalay told reporters in Zurich that she plans to complete her criminal investigation in February, after which she will formally charge the 16 suspects and ask for prison sentences for all of them.

The gang is alleged to have sold up to 7 tons (7.7 US tons) of hashish and marijuana between 2004 and 2008, with an annual turnover of 3-10 million francs a year, officials said.

[Polygon]

thats hilarious.

[Sunflower1970]

Too funny

[sydbat]

[humour]
Mental note: make sure grow-op is covered so satellites cannot find it!!
[/humor]

[uberdonkey5]

wow, time we started scanning google earth ourselves :D

anyone want to write some software to utilise a distributed network of computers and image recognition to find the nearest marajuana patch?

[Nevon]

anyone want to write some software to utilise a distributed network of computers and image recognition to find the nearest marajuana patch?

Not that I think your idea was all that serious, but what would be the point? To make it more expensive, so that the whole business gets more dangerous? I think not.

What I don't get is how they managed to identify it as a field of hemp. It should just look like a regular old field on satellite photos.

[dannytatom]

@Nevon, Stealing it from their fields would make it cheaper. ;)

[Frak]

http://i.eprci.net/picard-facepalm.jpg

[wolfen69]

it amazes me that pot is still illegal in many places.

alcohol kills way more people than marijuana.

[Frak]

it amazes me that pot is still illegal in many places.

alcohol kills way more people than marijuana.
"Laws are a sign of weakness that show the diffidence in technology and the perceived lack of morale in society."

-Me

[handy]

imho, dope is too easy to grow & too hard to tax.

Its persistent use can change a persons values away from being just another cog in the consumer mechanism (apart from when the munchies strike :-)).

Early last century Dupont played a prime roll in getting the thriving hemp fibre industry destroyed in the U.S., all in the interest of their new oil based plastic industry. They managed to get dope put right up there with the narcotics, which is ridiculous.

This is a good movie on the history of dope, The History of Marijuana (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7417904870843277177) narrated by Woody Harrelson.

[kaldor]

Bleh, leave the poor hippies alone.. :(


"This is a good movie on the history of dope, The History of Marijuana narrated by Woody Harrelson."


The Official Truth: If you smoke it, you will kill people.

!

[GCG199]

Not that I think your idea was all that serious, but what would be the point? To make it more expensive, so that the whole business gets more dangerous? I think not.

What I don't get is how they managed to identify it as a field of hemp. It should just look like a regular old field on satellite photos.

They use some sort of infrared dection systems with helicopters that do fly-overs looking for it in the more rural areas.

I think that by now they could do the same thing and apply it to satellite mapping programs.

[cardinals_fan]

Epic.

[Mason Whitaker]

That is the funniest thing I've seen in twenty minutes. ( I saw my cat bite its tail and then scream in pain )

[cookieofdoom]

"Laws are a sign of weakness that show the diffidence in technology and the percieved lack of morale in society."

-Me

You just quoted yourself?.. And what do you mean by that?.. and you spelt perceived wrong.

[abyssius]

You just quoted yourself?.. And what do you mean by that?.. and you spelt perceived wrong.

Speaking of spelling, don't you mean spelled not spelt

[s3kt0r]

Well, either google earth doesn't run very well on my laptop, or those cops have a high-resolution picture-taking satellite at their disposal.

Technology should be available to us all, right?

[Frak]

imho, dope is too easy to grow & too hard to tax.

Its persistent use can change a persons values away from being just another cog in the consumer mechanism (apart from when the munchies strike :-)).

Early last century Dupont played a prime roll in getting the thriving hemp fibre industry destroyed in the U.S., all in the interest of their new oil based plastic industry. They managed to get dope put right up there with the narcotics, which is ridiculous.

This is a good movie on the history of dope, The History of Marijuana (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7417904870843277177) narrated by Woody Harrelson.
+1

Because the Government would mostly not like it if you were no longer a slave of a monetary system. Why else would you work for money and not live on your own?


You just quoted yourself?.. And what do you mean by that?.. and you spelt perceived wrong.

Governments make laws because they cannot or will not find a way, usually technologically, to solve the problem.

I fixed the error, but your spelling is wrong. (spelled, not spelt).

[ubuntu27]

You just quoted yourself?.. And what do you mean by that?.. and you spelt perceived wrong.


Speaking of spelling, don't you mean spelled not spelt


Spelt (UK) and spelled (USA) are both correct.

[abyssius]

Well, either google earth doesn't run very well on my laptop, or those cops have a high-resolution picture-taking satellite at their disposal.

Technology should be available to us all, right?
I've always wondered if you get a higher resolution image if you used the purchased version. I'm not curious enough to invest to find out. But, to spot pot plants hidden within corn using Google Earth imagery - this sounds far fetched. I have a feeling there's some fabrication going on the police's part.

[Mason Whitaker]

Remember guys, most old time Unix programmers were hippies.

Pot allows you to stare at mind-numbing lines of code for hours on end without boredom even so much as crossing your mind.

XD

[abyssius]

Wow! And I thought the USA invented English ;)

[abyssius]

Remember guys, most old time Unix programmers were hippies.

Pot allows you to stare at mind-numbing lines of code for hours on end without boredom even so much as crossing your mind.

XD

Maybe Google Earth was invented by hippies so that they could find the best pot fields. I'm scouring Northern California right now,

[Koori23]

@Nevon, Stealing it from their fields would make it cheaper. ;)

Yeah, what are they gonna do if you did steal it? Call the police?

[ubuntu27]

Wow! And I thought the USA invented English ;)

I recommend you to read "American vs. British Usage (http://grammartips.homestead.com/british.html)"

[s3kt0r]

I've always wondered if you get a higher resolution image if you used the purchased version. I'm not curious enough to invest to find out. But, to spot pot plants hidden within corn using Google Earth imagery - this sounds far fetched. I have a feeling there's some fabrication going on the police's part.

You're not curious to invest and find out? So, maybe the cops were THAT curious? :lol:


Remember guys, most old time Unix programmers were hippies.

Pot allows you to stare at mind-numbing lines of code for hours on end without boredom even so much as crossing your mind.

XD

Spacing out as needed.

[Mason Whitaker]

Yeah, what are they gonna do if you did steal it? Call the police?Just last year some guys who were smoking pot were arrested when they said they saw a UFO and then called the police.

So yes?

[handy]

Remember guys, most old time Unix programmers were hippies.

Pot allows you to stare at mind-numbing lines of code for hours on end without boredom even so much as crossing your mind.

XD

As our societies got faster the dev's had to move on to the more dangerous caffeine products to keep up. :-)

[hoopz23]

google earth FTL

[MasterNetra]

Wow! And I thought the USA invented English ;)

Nah the British came up with english. We just made it better yet more complex :p

[abyssius]

Nah the British came up with english. We just made it better yet more complex :p

They certainly pronounce words like schedule and aluminum strangely, but I'm getting used to spelt. or is it ust to spelt?

[MasterNetra]

They certainly pronounce words like schedule and aluminum strangely, but I'm getting used to spelt. or is it ust to spelt?

I don't know. I'm not british. :p

[Frak]

I don't know. I'm not british. :p
I am British, and it's used in the same context as spelled.

/offtopic
IMHO, Americans speak a more pure from of English than British do.

[abyssius]

I recommend you to read "American vs. British Usage (http://grammartips.homestead.com/british.html)"

Thanks for the link! I'm not sure about avoiding the bullying and rudeness part, though. That would be decidedly un-American. Aren't we the biggest bullies in the world?

[Mason Whitaker]

They certainly pronounce words like schedule and aluminum strangely, but I'm getting used to spelt. or is it ust to spelt?
I'm not British, but I've always pronounced aluminum like all-you-men-you-yum

[lisati]

wow, time we started scanning google earth ourselves :D

anyone want to write some software to utilise a distributed network of computers and image recognition to find the nearest marajuana patch?

Well, "street view" shows someone going for a walk near my mum's place, and outside my place there's supposedly a car parked that we don't own (I have an idea whose it is).

What would be funny is if the people who use Google Earth think that it's all real-time. There used to be some blocks of flats in a street near my mother-in-law's places: they were demolished last year but are still showing in Google Earth & Street View

[lisati]

I'm not British, but I've always pronounced aluminum like all-you-men-you-yum

I pronounce it ell-oo-min-ee-yum
The main thing is that we understand one another....

[myusername]

is that not against the law? they didn't have a warrent (AFAIK)

[etnlIcarus]

So Google is now not only The Man, they're also Narcs. We need a counter-culture search engine.
it amazes me that pot is still illegal in many places.

alcohol kills way more people than marijuana.

This.

IMHO, Americans speak a more pure from of English than British do.Not this.

[hyper_ch]

is that not against the law? they didn't have a warrent (AFAIK)
a warrant for?

[gnomeuser]

Hrmm.. one wonders in these CO2 aware days the counter strike might not be "Government destroys 2 acres of useful vegitation in pointless operation".

[Frak]

a warrant for?
Scaring the faires and unicorns.

[jimi_hendrix]

its funnier because its on yahoo but talking about google

[dj722000]

Well, im kind of confused here. I thought GOOGLE earth only updated its imagery like once every 6 months or so? Wouldn't that be kinda hard to tell when this stuff was going on? Or are they using some other means we or I don't know about? Besides that, I thought if there wasn't a camera in the view you don't get a good look at it? It's like an aerial view of about 1000 feet. Wow, maybe I need to go and learn more.

[dragos240]

Wow, who knew that could have happened? Very interesting.

[chucky chuckaluck]

i can hardly wait for google metal detector.

[Mason Whitaker]

I thought GOOGLE earth only updated its imagery like once every 6 months or so?That is an interesting point...It was kinda stupid on the part of the Marijuana planters to use the same spot to grow their plants...

They deserved to get caught <_<

[Mr. Picklesworth]

Well, it's not really in everyone's list of priorities to dodge the nosy Google-powered spy sattelites :)
Next up: Orbital mind control lasers!

[smartboyathome]

i can hardly wait for google metal detector.

Don't forget the Google Mind Controllers. :P