BOOBY-TRAPPED FIELD YIELDS BITTER HARVEST FOR GROWER

Shotguns attached to trip wires in a national forest aren't typical security measures for drug traffickers in Southeast Missouri, but a 45-year-old marijuana grower was the exception, a federal prosecutor said.

John Paul Long of Fredericktown, Mo., told law enforcement officers how he had placed loaded shotguns around a 1,000-plant marijuana patch in the Mark Twain National Forest near Fredericktown, said Michael Price, assistant U.S. attorney.

Long pleaded guilty to felony charges of growing marijuana and setting booby traps in federal court on Tuesday.

Three shotguns attached to tripwires were found by members of the U.S. Forest Service investigating a fire in November 1999. The booby trap guns had been protecting a recently harvested marijuana patch.

With assistance from the Fort Leonard Wood Army explosives team, the booby traps were disarmed. Only one of the guns had been loaded, Price said.

A month later, after finding another marijuana patch with similar characteristics, Forest Service agents decided to prepare for the grower to return in the spring.

In the middle of May, the Forest Service discovered approximately 1,000 marijuana plants newly growing in the patch. Nearby, another patch had been started with seeds, but no plants were visible.

Investigators spent the rest of the summer watching the logging road that led to the remote marijuana garden.

Using a video camera for surveillance, officers recorded cars belonging to Long traveling down the road. On one occasion video camera recorded the suspect getting out of his truck carrying a handgun as he walked to the patch.

When harvest season arrived in September, officers seized 1,007 marijuana plants and conducted a search of Long's residence. Investigators found materials used to make the shotgun booby traps, various firearms and marijuana.

Long will be sentenced to a minimum of 10 years for growing marijuana on federal land, and a maximum of 10 years for setting the booby traps on April 30.