Oregon Public Broadcasting

Police in Yamhill County have discovered and destroyed a stand of opium-producing poppy plants. As April Baer reports, anti-drug enforcers think it could be the start of a disturbing trend.

The find wasn't the first in the state -- that honor goes to Linn County, where poppy plants were discovered earlier this month.

The plants found in Yamhill County Friday night are not like the orange varieties you see growing on Oregon roadsides.

Capt. Rob Edgell with the Yamhill County Interagency Narcotics Team says  the scale of the operation -- 24,000 plants -- suggests it could be the work of Mexican drug cartels trying to harvest the poppies for opium production.

Rob Edgell: "They're not selling them in the florist's shop yet -- although they do have a pretty flower once it blooms -- that's definitely what it's for heroin."

It's not clear how widepspread this production may be.  Edgell says the poppies were thriving, and law enforcement is keeping an eye out for more of this illegal cash crop.

No arrests have yet been made in connection with this find.