Mexican cartels growing more pot in Calif. parks

As California governments whack park funding and patrols, Mexican drug cartels are planting more marijuana on state and national lands, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

State law enforcement officials have seized 1 million plants this year and say the multibillion-dollar crop is expected to be the largest ever. Most of it is being grown in remote ridges and valleys of the state's 31 million acres of forest. Much of it is going unnoticed, because there are fewer sheriff's deputies and rangers patrolling parks.

Much of the California cannabis crop is shipped around the country, into Mexico and overseas. Police told the Chronicle that drug agents tracked a recent batch from Shasta County to Chicago and South Carolina.

The news comes the same day that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger slashed $6.2 million for state parks as he signed a budget bill. That means 100 state parks will probably close, potentially offering new growing opportunities for the weed merchants.

Posted by Michael Winter at 04:59 PM/ET, July 28, 2009 in Americas, Crime, Nation

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/20 ... parks.html