Watch Out for DTO Grows

What’s a DTO? It stands for drug trafficking organization. And as the summer comes on here in Tennessee, there is concern that visitors to the state may run across DTO marijuana growing operations.

Unlike grows by native Tennesseans, which are often a few plants mixed in with a regular crop or tucked away on a farm somewhere, a DTO grow is on someone else’s property or state land. Popular spots are the national parks in Tennessee, especially on our Eastern border. The same climate and soil conditions that give Tennessee other great crops is exploited for illegal marijuana cultivation.

Growers will typically establish ten or more small plots. They expect that most will be found but make their money on any plants that survive to maturity. There are other advantages as well. Unlike an indoor growing operation, a plot established in a national park is difficult to connect with any particular person. Since the offender is rarely apprehended on site, there is less risk for the DTO. But even when growers are caught – as they sometimes are at harvest time – the person nabbed will be a low level farmer and not a distributor or main player.

If someone runs across marijuana growing in a state or national park area, they are cautioned to get away from the area as quickly as possible and report it to park authorities or local police. While some growers will booby trap their plots, this isn’t common. Instead they rely on the remoteness of a location, like in a hollow that is difficult to see into from the air or in another hard to access area.

Some DTOs will have personnel who watch access roads or camp out near a plot. Running across a suspicious person or an encampment in the woods would be enough of a tip-off to tell park authorities. Many cell phones now have GPS – this is a great way to record a location to direct officials. While it’s sad that we have to inform our visitors of what to do if they come up on a felony in progress while hiking, this is the reality of the situation.