NEWPORT-A task force made up of local and state law enforcement officials wrapped up an apparently successful summer campaign to identify and destroy marijuana-growing fields in Cocke County, Special Agent Chad Beck said Monday.

Beck, who is in charge of the Eastern Division of the Governor's Task Force on Marijuana Eradication, said the officers worked periodically in helicopters throughout the summer identifying marijuana patches, pulling plants and destroying them.

The Task Force is made up of officers with the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Tennessee Highway Patrol/Special Operations, the Tennessee National Guard, and the U.S. Forestry.

A total of about 16,500 marijuana plants were spotted in Cocke County and destroyed, according Beck.

For more details, please see the latest edition of the Newport Plain Talk.