Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies burned more than $6.3 million worth of marijuana plants Thursday they seized from a field near Mangum.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Marijuana Eradication Team continued its unprecedented success this year.

The latest field was identified during a fly-over by the North Carolina National Guard Wednesday in a wooded area off Grassy Island Road.

“This is the most we’ve ever gotten,” RCSO Chief Deputy Phil Sweatt said.

Some of the 3,485 plants from the latest seizure stood as tall as 14 feet.

So far this year, the sheriff’s office has destroyed about 65,000 plants with a value of around $162 million.

“I appreciate the work of the North Carolina National Guard to assist us, and the work of the sheriff’s office deputies to make these seizures,” Sheriff Dale Furr said Thursday. “This is very hot weather, and it’s very strenuous work, and the deputies should be commended for their efforts.”

The plants were loaded in one of four vehicles, including a dump truck. A backhoe dug a 10-foot-deep hole in the sand near the county compound off Mizpah Road and dry brush was placed at the bottom and marijuana on the top. Used motor oil got the blaze going.

No arrests were reported in connection with the latest seizure.

In keeping with previous large seizures, the plants were located in a wooded, rural area. There was a campsite where the people watching over the field kept supplies and apparently lived at least part of the time.

Sweatt said there were indications of recent activity at the camp.

“We believe it was an active campsite, because there were fresh vegetables there,” Sweatt said. “The problem is, when they hear the helicopters fly over or hear movement, they can easily get away from us and hide because it takes so long to get to these remote sites, but we’re still working to find out who it is.”

Before this latest seizure, the RCSO’s eradication efforts had totaled more than 60,000 plants, including the destruction of a field with about 30,000 plants near Ellerbe in June.

The RCSO touted the 30,000 plant seizure as its largest ever, but many of the plants were still in the seedling stage, standing about two to three inches tall.

“Obviously, we’ve got a lot of marijuana growers who are targeting Richmond County because we have a lot of rural areas,” Furr said following the seizure in June. “And this year looks like a good year for marijuana with all the moisture we’ve had, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see us make more of these arrests throughout the season.”

The Ellerbe field was discovered behind a home on Capel Mill Road, and led to the arrests of 23-year-old Julio Lopez and 28-year-old Maria Flores, who were both charged with felony counts of manufacturing marijuana and maintaining a dwelling to keep a controlled substance.

Both received bonds of $500,000 on the charges.

Other large seizures thus far this year include about 6,770 plants that were pulled from a field near Holly Grove Church Road in May, and more than 7,000 plants seized from a field near Cartledge Creek Road in June.

Another five plants were also seized behind a residence near Mangum Thursday, though the address was unavailable at press time.

Anyone with information about the owner of the field, or who would like to report suspicious activity, is encouraged to contact the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office at (910) 997-8283 or Richmond County Crimestoppers at (910) 997-5454.