Thread: CA: Secret gardens yield big busts

Secret gardens yield big busts
Pot seizures up across the state; major finds in Tulare Co. make for a record year.
By Tim Sheehan / The Fresno Bee
08/26/07 04:52:06


VISALIA -- Narcotics agents are ripping out record numbers of marijuana plants in Valley counties this year, a trend officials say bears true on a statewide basis as well.

With more than a month left in the peak pot-picking season, Tulare County -- which last year yielded its position among the top 10 California counties for seizures of plants from clandestine plantations -- appears poised to reclaim the Valley's cannabis crown.

So far in 2007, deputies in Tulare County and agents with the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement's Campaign Against Marijuana Planting -- or CAMP -- have destroyed nearly 300,000 plants.

"We are in a record year," said Tulare County sheriff's Sgt. Chris Douglass. "We still have some time left and we're more than 100,000 plants ahead of any of our last few years."

Growers usually begin preparations in February or March, Douglass said, and "the garden season is usually late April through September, although some varieties are lasting through November."

Stakes are high. State narcotics investigators estimate an average marijuana plant produces about one pungent pound of processed pot that, when broken into street-level sales, is valued at $4,000.

In Tulare County, that makes cannabis a criminal cash crop on par with the county's billion-dollar dairy industry. Seizures so far this year would have been worth about $1.2 billion by the time the drug made its way through a shadowy network of growers, processors and dealers to street-level buyers.

But Tulare County is not alone. Other Valley counties are seeing pot seizures soar this summer.

In neighboring Fresno County, the sheriff's spokesman, deputy Chris Curtice, said about 165,000 marijuana plants have been seized, a record for that county that will continue to balloon.

Between county detectives and CAMP agents, "they're working on it all the time, but there's only so many hours in a day," Curtice said. "They're finding more and we've still got plenty of time to go in the season."

Together, Fresno and Tulare counties account for about 25% of all of the marijuana plants found so far in California, according to figures offered by state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement Special Agent Holly Swartz, a CAMP spokeswoman.

By the middle of last week, Swartz said, CAMP agents had helped counties eradicate about 1.8 million plants in 2007.

Last year represented California's previous record, with more than 1.6 million plants destroyed.

Sizable finds in Madera and Merced counties in recent weeks amplify the Valley's importance to the marijuana marketplace.

In Madera County, a four-day operation by CAMP agents and sheriff's deputies north of North Fork this month ripped out more than 35,000 plants -- itself exceeding the county's total of 27,417 eradicated plants for all of 2006, Madera County sheriff's spokeswoman Erica Stuart said.

"It's up big-time. We have well surpassed last year," Stuart said. "But we just flipped when we heard what Tulare County's numbers were."

Madera County's old record dates to 2000 -- a year marked by the county's largest single-day seizure of 30,000 plants in the mountain community of O'Neals, Stuart said.

In Merced County, a raid last week turned up more than 40,000 plants, pushing the county to a total of more than 77,320 marijuana plants seized and destroyed so far this year. By itself, the massive seizure just outside Merced surpassed the county's old record, set in 2001.

"I think most of the counties are seeing new records this year," Swartz said, adding that the Valley appears to be a hotbed for the illegal crop.

The Valley's rural areas and stretches of remote, mountainous public lands such as national forests and national parks, Swartz said, are inviting to Mexican drug cartels believed responsible for many of the marijuana operations.

Also appealing is the Valley's supply of agricultural workers from which to recruit cheap labor to tend gardens.

What's uncertain is whether the spike in seizures means more gardens actually are being planted, or whether investigators are just discovering more of them, and how much is getting through.

"I think it's two-edged," Swartz said. "Yes, there are more gardens, mainly by the Mexican drug-trafficking organizations. ... But we're also getting better at spotting and finding them."

Increased crime-fighting budgets have enabled greater use of helicopters -- a vital tool in the enforcement effort not only in spotting marijuana gardens from the air in rugged terrain and mapping them, but in flying deputies and agents into the remote areas, Swartz said. "We can be more productive because we can be airlifted in a couple of minutes instead of spending six hours hiking in."

Officials believe pot's popularity is proliferating because it's a better economic deal than manufacturing other illegal drugs like methamphetamine.

"In the last five years, the raw materials for meth have gotten so expensive and hard to get that they're looking at this from a business sense," Swartz said.

By contrast, an enterprising person can purchase marijuana seeds over the Internet; other needs such as drip-irrigation hoses, pesticides and fertilizers are available legally at local garden shops or home-improvement stores.

Last week's 40,000-plant seizure from a cornfield near Merced may indicates that gardens are getting bigger, investigators say.

Tulare County's largest grow site so far this year had nearly 32,000 plants, found in mid-July in the Bennett Creek area near Three Rivers. Another big garden, nearly 31,000 plants, was stumbled upon by firefighters in late July on Blue Ridge Mountain, north of Springville.

Other Tulare County gardens have been torn out in the Sequoia National Forest and on public land managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management. Fresno and Madera counties report major finds in their mountain areas, including the Sierra National Forest.

Not reflected in either the CAMP or county figures are pot plantations torn out independently by National Park Service rangers.

Deb Schweizer, a spokeswoman for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, said rangers so far have pulled up about 30,000 plants in the parks, which span eastern Tulare and Fresno counties.

Rangers also are stepping up their patrols and other efforts to monitor suspicious activity in remote areas.

"It's probably fair to say an equal amount of plants were prevented from either being planted or grown," Schweizer said, noting one stop that nabbed a person carrying about 4,500 marijuana seeds likely destined for planting in the park.

The Merced Sun-Star contributed to this report. The reporter can be reached attsheehan@fresnobee.com or(559) 622-2410.

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/sv/story/122031.html

I was listening on our local KMJ580 radio station yesterday afternoon, and there was a caller who told of an incident where his son came across a pot field on their ranch. He was confronted by 3 "Mexicans" who threatened him and his family if he ever said anything. Long story short, the local law enforcement wouldn't take care of the problem. That's what we get with for being a sanctuary city with an illegal loving mayor and police chief.

Originally Posted by GS07

I was listening on our local KMJ580 radio station yesterday afternoon, and there was a caller who told of an incident where his son came across a pot field on their ranch. He was confronted by 3 "Mexicans" who threatened him and his family if he ever said anything. Long story short, the local law enforcement wouldn't take care of the problem. That's what we get with for being a sanctuary city with an illegal loving mayor and police chief.

Yep, and they planted the pot field on his ranch.....disgusting! He could be held responsible because the pot's on his land and the law enforcement won't help him? Sounds to me like he better go the next level of law enforcement. It's inexcusable for Americans and their families to be threatened in any case but on their own land?

I was listening on our local KMJ580 radio station yesterday afternoon, and there was a caller who told of an incident where his son came across a pot field on their ranch. He was confronted by 3 "Mexicans" who threatened him and his family if he ever said anything. Long story short, the local law enforcement wouldn't take care of the problem. That's what we get with for being a sanctuary city with an illegal loving mayor and police chief.

That would be the point to which I would go out into the field, start dosing it with gasoline, and light it up. Of course I would prepair myself first with about 10-15 well armed friends.

Even in school I was "threatened" by bullies, but they soon found out that threatening me does not work. As I will unleash an all out war. You do not threaten me or my family. You only strengthen my will, and my resolve by doing so.

A new kid big guy my junior year (he was a senior) threatened me in the hall way ( I bumped into him as I was talking to my grilfriend) The girlfriend knew he made a mistake the moment he said "touch me again junior and I'll kick your ass) So I did what I had to, A swift kick to the nuts and a sharp right hook to break his jaw, and he ate through a straw for a month. He never messed with me again. (yeah I got suspended for 3 days for fighting, but oh well)

I do not take crap from anyone, and I'm not that big of a guy. An illegal making a threat to me would almost ensure rage like no other.

What always blows my mind about stories like these is the undeniable fact that if hemp (marijuana) was returned to it's formerly LEGAL status, not only would the Mexican Mafia stop reaping such enormous profits off of it, but America could tax it just like any other product, yielding enough revenue to possibly even balance our grossly over-extended budgets.

While I'm sure to catch some heat over my decidedly libertarian point of view, I will say this. No one has ever OD'ed on pot, no one has ever gone into a murderous rage while on pot and pot reduces stress levels and high blood pressure.

I also think God supports the use of pot, and to bolster this claim I give you Genesis 1:29...

"I give you EVERY herb bearing seed, this shall be to you as FOOD."

OK flamers, I've got my asbestos BVD's on, FIRE AWAY!!!

Long time, no see, PineStraw!

I've moved to Arizona, Rockfish.

I've also joined the Minutemen and am going to the border with my lawn chair and binoculars.

I'll be posting updates here on the October muster at King's Ranch.

Well, I wish you all the luck in the world, Pinestraw, I may be moving out west myself, will know in about a week from now. Either Oregon, Idaho, Colorado or UT. Will keep in touch!

I know your service to the Minutemen will definately contribute to and help them advance our agenda! Good luck, God speed!