Sheriff: Mexican Cartels Growing Pot In Georgia Parks


Posted: 4:02 pm EST November 8, 2010
Updated: 1:38 pm EST November 9, 2010

ATLANTA -- Channel 2 Action News has learned Mexican drug gangs may be secretly growing marijuana on public park lands in Georgia. That is according to the Governor's Task Force for Drug Suppression. Channel 2 Action News reporter Tom Regan went along with the task force searching for pot growers.

Mexican Cartels Growing Pot in Georgia's Forest VIDEO
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State drug enforcement officers say that for Mexican cartels, growing in Georgia saves them the expense and risks of smuggling pot across the border. It is also closer to major markets such as Atlanta, where it can be distributed quickly and profitably.

The Governor's Task Force for Drug Suppression, along with the Department of Forestry and county officials, is taking aim at these growing operations and working to shut them down.

Teams of state, federal and local law officers took off on an airborne mission to find marijuana grow sites on large tracts of public and private land. Regan rode along with the officers as they rode in helicopters to get a bird's-eye view of where the plants might be growing.

The agents spotted marijuana crops hidden in the underbrush and spread out over a vast area to avoid detection. The plants blend easily with the other foliage. A ground team moved in and with the help of helicopter spotters, hauled dozens of plants away.

"They know what we are doing. They know we are out looking for plants. They are taking extra precautions to make sure the plants are not visible from the air," said Eddie Williams of the Governors Task Force on Drug Suppression.

Unlike pot farms of the past, growers today often cultivate their crop in grow houses and then transplant them into the deep woods until the buds are ready to harvest.

The Charlton County Sheriff's Department told Regan they are convinced an expanding number of growers have links to larger criminal organizations. Two years ago, they seized $8 million worth of plants in Charlton Country.

"I'm quite sure that it's connected to the Mexican drug cartel because we see more and more of that in this part of the state," said Sheriff Dobie Connor of Charlton County.

Regan was there as they rounded up over 50 plants in just two hours. The seizure was worth about $100 thousand in profit on the streets.

Law enforcement officials tell Regan they have seen a major spike in marijuana farms in Georgia linked to foreign drug gangs.

In July they uncovered a remote site hidden in the Chatahoochee National Forest just two miles from Helen, GA. More than 26 thousand plants were growing on a patch work of plots under the thick canopy.

Those tending the plants lived in tents and set up an irrigation system according to law enforcement officials. Search teams used helicopters to hoist the plants out of the woods. Agents told Regan that the harvest was worth about $52 million.

"Definitely we are seeing the Mexican cartels growing on public lands in the state of Georgia," said Williams.

Williams told Regan that remote public park land is an ideal location for foreign drug gangs to set up shop and the profits from high-grade pot are enormous.

State officials say it is difficult to make arrests on pot farms. The growers have to be caught in the act of cultivating to be charged. More often than not, they are able to escape before law enforcement moves in.

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