Thread: Marijuana Farm Found in National Forest Worth $1M

Marijuana Farm Found in National Forest Worth $1M

Updated: Thursday, 11 Aug 2011, 6:10 PM CDT
Published : Thursday, 11 Aug 2011, 6:41 PM CDT

Ashland County authorities warned residents Thursday not to pick up any hitchhikers as they continue to search for four suspects involved in a large-scale marijuana growing operation in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in northern Wisconsin.

Ashland County Sheriff Mick Brennan said nearly 10,000 marijuana plants were destroyed in the bust and had an estimated street value of $1 million. Brennan said it the biggest drug bust of its kind in the county.

"We still have law enforcement searching. Two suspects didn't even have shoes they left the camp so quickly. They're on foot in a vast forest area," the sheriff said. "It's uninhabited; there was no way to get into that area by vehicle. We had to come in on foot, and had to have it eradicated using helicopters."

One man was arrested Wednesday at the scene in a remote part of the 1.5-million-acre forest, 25 miles northwest of Park Falls. Authorities said they were alerted to the marijuana operation after a tip from a hunter in November.

The sprawling site had thousands of plants hidden over several acres and included a camp for the people cultivating the marijuana as well as loaded firearms when I was raided by about 175 law enforcement officials from 22 agencies.

"It feels good to get it out of there," Brennan said. "We wish would've gotten all five suspects. We're still working on that."

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/na ... M_09946288

I wonder if it was a Sinola Farm.

Not the first time for this area - almost a year ago this happened:

"Authorities estimate they seized at least 50,000 marijuana plants during a sweep through a northeastern Wisconsin national forest.

Oconto County Sheriff Mike Jansen cautions the number is only an estimate. Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen says counting continues and the number currently stands around 10,000 plants.

More than 200 police, state and federal agents swept through the southeastern tip of the Wisconsin forest 50 miles northwest of Green Bay overnight Tuesday. The operation was the culmination of two months of surveillance on a group of Hispanic men investigators believe were the growers.

. . . .

The men arrested in Wisconsin were Genaro Avila-Rodriguez, Adalberto Valencia, Salvador Montez-Canchola, Raul Juvenal Avila-Rodriguez, Jesus DelaTorre-Avila, Javier Navarro-Zaragoza, Gustavo Barragua-Mendoza and Jorge Omar Perez-Hipolito.

Dressed in jeans and dirty T-shirts, each sat silently in federal court in Green Bay on Wednesday as U.S. Magistrate Judge James R. Sickel read them their rights and set a Friday court appearance. An interpreter translated the judge's remarks into Spanish for each of the men."

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2010/ ... _pot_farms

The majority of the names are hyphenated - dead give away that they are illegal. JMO

The men arrested in Wisconsin were Genaro Avila-Rodriguez, Adalberto Valencia, Salvador Montez-Canchola, Raul Juvenal Avila-Rodriguez, Jesus DelaTorre-Avila, Javier Navarro-Zaragoza, Gustavo Barragua-Mendoza and Jorge Omar Perez-Hipolito.