COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) - - It's a little plant that is costing people in Ohio a great deal of cash and, in some cases, landing them in prison.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources simply invested years checking out the unlawful trading of ginseng, or green gold.
People can make numerous dollars off the plant. If you're following the laws, and there are a lot of them, you can harvest it. ODNR officers are out to stop the people looking to make fast money unlawfully off this root.
" I was extremely surprised with the amount of illegal activity that we had uncovered," an undercover officer with the ODNR said. "We have ginseng in every county in Ohio. We record it being dug in all the counties."
The officer goes undercover to capture individuals illegally purchasing, gathering and offering ginseng.
" It's a plant that is mainly used for medical purposes," Coshocton County State Wildlife Officer Jerrod Allison said. American ginseng (Ohio Department of Natural Resources).
Farm-raised ginseng remains in things like tea and vitamins; wild ginseng is what ODNR is regulating.
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Illegal ginseng harvesters busted in Ohio
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" Unfortunately, people are constantly looking for an easy payday, which's a simple method for someone to head out, dig some ginseng unlawfully, and then trade it to the next person to feed their drug habit," Allison stated.
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Through undercover sales and a lot of team effort, ODNR officers found that the plant is often traded for drugs like methamphetamine.
" We did encounter ginseng being traded straight for the hardcore drugs," the undercover officer stated. "We wound up dealing with the drug job force and SWAT teams and hit those homes that was happening in.
" Depends on the year, however we can be looking for anywhere in between $500, perhaps $600, perhaps $1,000 for a pound of ginseng, so it can be a simple way for someone to go out, make some cash kind of off the books," Allison stated. They have extremely little ginseng.
Ohioans need to be accredited to offer ginseng. The ODNR investigation focused on unlicensed and certified dealers and out-of-season diggers.
According to ODNR, the people caught paid a "combined $76,178 in fines and $21,633.05 in court costs, with an extra $20,871.68 in cash being surrendered. Additional charges consisted of probation, community service, house confinement, suspension of ginseng dealer allows, and suspension of digging ginseng.".
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The harvest season for wild ginseng begins Sept. 1 and goes through Dec. 31.
A few of the laws include that the plants that are selected should have at least 3 "prongs" and the seeds from the plant you dig must be replanted after harvesting. You can not gather on public property and should have authorization to collect on private property.
People seeking to offer the plant needs to be certified and report the sales.
" Any unlawful acts in ginseng in Ohio is a misdemeanor of the very first degree, which indicates it could be approximately $1,000 in fines," Allison said. "There likewise might be a six-month jail sentence. In addition, a judge could buy restitution to the landowner who lost the ginseng from their residential or commercial property. We also hope to see with people that are digging ginseng illegally that the judge would likewise purchase some kind of suspension to where they might not deal and dig in ginseng ideally for a period of year or years.".
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