State narcotics officers’ routine search on Wednesday netted 183 marijuana plants growing in a kudzu patch off Martin Luther King Jr.&160;Street.

The officers spotted the plants while flying a helicopter in the area said Jimmy Saxton, group supervisor for the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.

He described the plot as a &uot;normal-sized seizure&uot; for Mississippi. The plants were about 20 feet tall and have a street value of $1.5 million, Saxton said.

Kim Stirling, field coordinator on the scene Wednesday, said the officers do not know who owned the property where the plants were growing but found it difficult to access. The plot was located about 100 yards behind a vacant house near Lansdowne Park Road.

Stirling said the patch was intermingled with kudzu vines. &uot;It didn’t appear to be maintained,&uot; he said.

Officers had to climb down a bluff and make a chain of people to remove the plants, he said.

The plants were about three to four inches in diameter, Stirling said. He estimated they had been planted four or five months ago from seed thrown on the ground in a random pattern.

&uot;We’re not able to initiate an investigation,&uot;&160;Saxton said. &uot;The only way you would be able to make an arrest in this case is to catch them in the plot.&uot;

Because no arrests are expected, the officers will destroy the plants, Stirling said.

The bureau conducts routine checks in all state counties during the growing season but this is the first search in Adams County this year.