Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    Senior Member cvangel's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    California
    Posts
    4,450

    CA:Shots fired at national park rangers in pot raid

    Shots fired at national park rangers in pot raid
    By Tim Bragg / The Fresno Bee
    08/09/07 04:54:30


    SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK -- Park rangers conducting what they thought would be a routine raid on a marijuana garden in the Tulare County mountains got a surprise -- bullets, possibly fired from the pot growers.

    Officials said they believed the firing of about seven shots at a park service helicopter Tuesday was a first for marijuana eradication efforts inside the park. Because of the possible danger, park officials closed parts of Mineral King Road near the garden's location Tuesday and Wednesday, escorting vehicles in and out of the area. They also evacuated some visitors staying at a ranch in the area and advised others of their options.

    Aside from the shots being fired, the new growing areas found in the park also represent several other firsts, according to park rangers.

    Marijuana plots are being discovered in higher elevations and feature new types of plants that are harder to spot from the air and allow growers to get in more plantings during a typical season.

    "This is the first time we've had a pot garden surrounding a sequoia tree," said J.D. Swed, chief park ranger for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. "It gives me chills to say that."

    The marijuana garden with multiple plots being eradicated this week was one of the largest ever found in the park in terms of the amount of land involved, said officials, covering nearly 3 acres. About 5,000 plants had been pulled from the plots as of Tuesday morning, but park rangers still had many plots to go through, they said.

    It could be a record year for marijuana eradication in the park if the current pace of seizures stays up, Swed said.

    Because of the shots fired, rangers were being cautious about flying helicopters over the area Wednesday. Most of the park service crews working the pot plots hiked into the area, said Alexandra Picavet, a national park spokeswoman.

    She said park visitors shouldn't be too concerned about meeting up with armed marijuana growers in parts of the park that most people frequent.

    "The general public tends not to go into the areas where they are," Picavet said. "There are no trails; it's very remote."

    But she said that in the past at least one park visitor, a fisherman looking for a good fishing hole, ventured into remote territory near some gardens and was warned to stay away.

    Raiding a pot garden can be a dangerous endeavor, even for law enforcement officers trained to handle the situation, said James Gould, a Sequoia National Park law enforcement ranger who had visited the newly discovered garden.

    When asked what it would take to make a long-term dent in the practice of growing marijuana in the Sierra, Gould said it was a difficult question to answer.

    "There's so much money involved," he said. "The payoff on these gardens can be huge."

    Marijuana gardeners must lay thousands of feet, and sometimes miles, of irrigation line to feed the gardens, and bring in hundreds of pounds of fertilizer, pesticides and other supplies. The garden plots are cut by hand out of steeply sloped areas, which requires hours of backbreaking work.

    The growers -- mostly illegal Mexican immigrants working for sophisticated drug cartels -- camp out for two or three months, leaving behind tons of trash and poaching animals such as deer, said Athena Demetry, the park's restoration ecologist, who manages efforts to clean up the eradicated gardens.

    The fertilizers and pesticides also cause long-term damage to the forest and water supplies in the affected areas, she said.

    The best way to prevent damage is to keep the growers from planting marijuana in the first place, Demetry said.

    With that in mind, Swed said, rangers have stepped up patrols on park roads to try to intercept shipments of supplies and workers to the gardens. So far, two people have been arrested and officials have learned of the locations of several other growing areas.

    Other drivers of suspicious vehicles have fled when spotted, leaving behind vehicles filled with items such as irrigation line and thousands of pot seedlings. One left behind some very important items -- 600 tortillas.

    "The guys in the garden had to come out because they had no food," said Swed, chuckling.
    The reporter can be reached at tbragg@fresnobee.com or (559)622-2417.

    http://www.fresnobee.com/local/sv/story/107852.html

  2. #2
    Administrator Jean's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    California
    Posts
    65,443
    "This is the first time we've had a pot garden surrounding a sequoia tree,"
    This burns me up more than I can say.
    Have you seen a sequoia tree? If not, you have to see it to believe it. They are one of natures greatest wonders.
    Drug cartels need to get out of those forests!!!
    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at https://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  3. #3
    Senior Member realbsball's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    LA War Zone, CA
    Posts
    758
    More "jobs that Americans won't do." but I'm sure there are some Americans that would take those jobs.

  4. #4
    Senior Member Dixie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Texas - Occupied State - The Front Line
    Posts
    35,070
    They are starting to grow their dope here because it's easier than trying to get it across the border.

    Dixie
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •