Russia Plans To Spot Dope Crops from Orbit

Space narc!

A breakthrough in the satellite detection of illegal drug plantations is in sight as Russian scientist experiment with state-of-the-art techniques. Soon, engineers hope that farms of illegal vegetation can be pinpointed to within one meter.

­Scientist are experimenting with already-existing remote probing devices like the Meteor and Resurs-DK1 satellites, which are both operated by the Russian Research Center for Earth Operative Monitoring (RCEOM). Originally the satellites were designed to monitor atmospheric and sea-surface temperatures, humidity, radiation, sea ice conditions, snow-cover and cloud variations, but now they are on their way to battle crime.