Georgia National Guard helicopter crews spent the summer flying over fields, forests, and private property in a statewide hunt for illegally cultivated marijuana.

The flights supported civilian police agencies seeking aerial observations that could establish probable cause for search warrants.

Guard officials describe part of the counterdrug mission as “probable cause generation,” a role that places civilian law enforcement officers aboard military aircraft.

Those officers scan the ground while Guard crews handle the flying.

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This year, authorities expanded the scope of the aerial searches.

Instead of restricting missions to properties already identified by local police, helicopters flew over general areas in all 159 Georgia counties.

The approach gives law enforcement a much wider view without burning through local manpower, vehicles, and fuel.

Marijuana growers counting on fences, tree lines, or isolated acreage to keep their operations hidden now have to worry about eyes in the sky.

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Aircraft selection depends on availability and what civilian agencies request. The Guard can provide either a Lakota or Black Hawk helicopter staffed by a three person military aircrew.

The Guardsmen operate under Title 32 federal counterdrug authority, while the accompanying civilian officer performs the law enforcement observation.

When that officer spots and verifies marijuana plants, the aerial observation can be used to support an application for a search warrant.

One summer operation near Dalton demonstrated the process. A civilian officer riding aboard a Lakota observed marijuana growing behind a private residence, giving authorities the information needed to pursue a warrant.

Police later seized 17 plants and two pounds of processed marijuana from that property.

Authorities estimated the combined value at more than $40,000.

Across Georgia, Guard crews helped state and local agencies seize 343 marijuana plants during the summer. That total came from only two reported operations, with the overwhelming majority recovered during a single action in Polk County.

The Georgia Guard has conducted marijuana eradication flights for decades through its partnership with the Governor’s Task Force.

In 2013, however, the operating model relied more heavily on suspected locations supplied by local sheriff’s departments.

“We receive suspected locations from the local Sheriff’s office and talk the ground team in to eradicate the marijuana grow sites once we locate them,” a Georgia Guard aircrew member said in 2013. Under that older approach, crews generally knew where local authorities wanted them to look before launching the search.

The newer statewide method allows helicopters to survey broader areas before ground teams are committed.

Guard officials say that saves police time and resources because officers on the ground deploy only after a suspected grow has been positively identified from above.

The aviation mission is only one element of the Georgia National Guard Counterdrug Task Force.

Guard personnel also assist police through criminal case analysis involving drug trafficking organizations, financial activity, and illicit networks.

That analytical support can help investigators connect individual seizures to larger organizations moving drugs or money.

It also gives civilian agencies access to specialized personnel and capabilities that many local departments could not easily maintain on their own.

“The success of this ERAD season highlights that the Georgia National Guard is not an afterthought or secondary request, but an indispensable partner,” Capt. Jimmy Williams, deputy director of the Georgia National Guard Counterdrug Task Force, said in a release.

The summer operations reflected that partnership, with military crews providing aviation support while civilian authorities retained responsibility for warrants, searches, and seizures.

The number of plants recovered this year remains far below figures reported more than a decade ago.

In 2012, the same task force seized over 71,000 plants across Georgia, including major growing operations found on public land inside the Chattahoochee National Forest.

This summer produced 343 seized plants, including 326 recovered in Polk County and the remaining 17 taken during the Dalton operation.

Although the seizure count was smaller, the Guard searched a much broader geographic area by conducting missions across the entire state.

Georgia’s effort is part of the National Guard Counterdrug Program, which operates in every state and several United States territories.

According to the Government Accountability Office, Congress appropriated approximately $1.33 billion for the program between fiscal years 2019 and 2024.

For Georgia police, the arrangement provides aircraft, trained crews, and intelligence assistance without forcing every local agency to build those expensive capabilities from scratch.

For illegal growers, it means private acreage is not necessarily private from a helicopter, especially when a civilian officer aboard is watching for the evidence needed to bring police through the gate.

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