Thread: Another Major Pot Bust Near Medford Oregon

They think this is another major garden put together by illegal's from Mexico. It has been on the radio that they have upgraded it to 50,000 plants with a value of 5,000 ea. They think its a Mexican drug cartel growing operation.

Just some more jobs Americans won't do I guess.



Officers descend on marijuana gardens (11 a.m.)
About 200 law enforcement officers from agencies across Southern Oregon and Northern California are in the Applegate this morning after raiding a half-dozen marijuana gardens, one suspected to contain as many as 10,000 plants.

Officers were chasing two armed men through brush near a garden just above Cantrall-Buckley Park but had made no arrests by mid-morning, said Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters.

Winters, who led the operation, said it is the area’s largest raid of the year.

Officers reported people in the gardens had fired shots at them and at a law enforcement helicopter flying overhead, Winters said.

The largest of the gardens, believed to contain as many as 10,000 plants 6-12 feet tall, is at Rock Gulch, also in the Cantrall-Buckley Park area.

Police say each of those plants would produce a pound or more of marijuana. The federal Drug Enforcement Agency estimates the street value of marijuana at $5,000 a pound.

A U.S. Bureau of Land Management employee discovered the first garden, and aerial searches uncovered others, said Winters. Officials believe the six gardens are connected and that other connected gardens might remain hidden, he said.

Officers will be in the area all day and expect to start pulling up plants after the gardens are secure, Winters said. The agencies have set up an operations base on Upper Applegate Road.

Officers taking part in the raid are from Jackson, Josephine, Siskiyou and Douglas county sheriff’s offices, Klamath Falls city police department, the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service, the Oregon State Police, the statewide SWAT team, the DEA and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
http://www.mailtribune.com/update/update.html#pot

American_made:

10,000 plants - geez, that's not a garden, that's a plantation!
Do you have the source link for that article?

Hope you got the PM the other day...

Dang! Most marijuana plantations that large are operated BY the Forestry Service.

Crocket:

Dang, that was funny!

FYI... my info is probably a bit dated, but last I heard pot is the state's #2 cash crop! (eg. 100 million dollars+)

PhredE, Got the Pm, the link is at the bottom. This has been upgraded from 10,000 to 50,000 plants on the radio. This is a huge bust. They are saying a street value of 5,000 a plant* 50,000 Plants. The story is at www.mailtribune.com and is still developing......

AM:

OK, thanks. I'll check it out.

I also browsed over to a local TV station's site a little while ago, and that story had put the street value @ (no kidding folks, hear this: $50,000,000 - but the story did not mention anything about the perps - illegals or not - so I didn't cut/paste the story up). If they do an update and it proves illegals were involved (or gangs, etc) then I'll post the story back.

Here's the KATU web page: www.katu.com - the story was down in the main page somewhere...

PS. Thanks for the PM confirm

statement from local sheriff.

“These are large, cartel-type grows,” Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters said. “They are testing law enforcement to see if we will allow them to take root, and we won’t.”


I think it was 2 weeks ago I posted about another pot bust here where they arrested 2 illegals. They are in jail and I think that one was in the millions of dollars also.

They need to be checking all up and down the Sandy River Gorge. This is a prime area for marijuana growing.

This is big, I hope these people go to prison for a long time.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I'm glad they found this one and cleared it.
I just wonder how many exist and are not found...

Well in this last round they have not busted anyone. But the helicopter has been flying over the valley all morning. The reason I know is my wife and I were just out buying plants (The legal kind) for our yard and traveled from Ashland to Jacksonville and then Central Point home and it was everywhere we were. I least I hope they were looking for more pot.... it is a black helicopter!