Buck Gully proves to yield no pot paradise

Marisa O’Neil

A gully at the bottom of a steep hillside, far below

multimillion-dollar homes, provided a fertile home for about 50

marijuana plants until Tuesday afternoon.

Police patrolling the Buck Gully area in a helicopter spotted the

plants growing there, nestled among native plants, Newport Beach

Police Sgt. Steve Koudelka said. Within hours, officers had pulled

out the plants, bundled them in a net and lifted them out with a

helicopter.

The little-used area made a good, if temporary home for the

plants, Koudelka said. Some of them had reached as high as 7 or 8

feet.

“There’s a water supply going down there with the creek, sun and

nice breezes,” he said. “And they were planted in among some tall

trees.”

Residents on Sandcastle Drive, which overlooks the gully, wondered

what all the commotion was as the helicopter circled the area Tuesday

afternoon. Some, like Robin Keller, worried it might be a fire --

until they saw the helicopter hauling the greenery.

“I thought maybe it was someone in Newport Coast getting a big

tree delivered,” Keller said with a laugh, looking at homes on a

ridge across the gully.

Officers had to hike some 200 to 300 yards down a steep hillside

to get to the spot. That walk took them through native plants,

including large patches of poison oak, Koudelka said.

Police found shovels and growing materials that showed the farmers

had been carefully cultivating their crop. It looked like it had been

harvested at least once, he said.

Officers estimated the plants’ weight at about 300 pounds but

would not provide an estimated value. They took the ripped-up plants

to the Newport Beach Police Station in Newport Center.

Usually, marijuana farms found in the city are inside homes or

other buildings, Koudelka said. Though Tuesday’s find wasn’t the

largest ever in the city, it was rare to find an outdoor growing

site, he said.

Access to the area where the plants grew has been limited because

of fire dangers, neighbors said. A fence and an unlocked gate

separate the homes from the dry, craggy hillside.

Police don’t have any suspects in the case, but neighbors who

noticed any unusual activity in the area could provide tips to

police, Koudelka said.