Rave Radio: Offline (0/0)
Email: Password:
Anonymous
New Account
Forgot Password
News (Media Awareness Project) - US CA: California Agents Double Marijuana Plant Seizures
Title:US CA: California Agents Double Marijuana Plant Seizures
Published On:2005-11-12
Source:Contra Costa Times (CA)
Fetched On:2008-01-15 08:48:16
CALIFORNIA AGENTS DOUBLE MARIJUANA PLANT SEIZURES

California narcotics agents seized more than a million marijuana
plants worth more than $4.5 billion during this year's growing season
- -- more than double any other year -- according to new figures
released by the Department of Justice.

In Santa Clara County, sheriff's deputies working with state
narcotics agents confiscated 37,811 plants, worth at least $114
million, ranking Santa Clara ninth among the top ten counties where
marijuana gardens were found and destroyed.

An additional 17,000 plants were seized by Santa Clara County
deputies working alone, said Sgt. Joe Waldherr, supervisor of the
Santa Clara County sheriff's marijuana suppression team. Waldherr put
the value of the plants seized in Santa Clara County at $165 million
dollars or more.

Shasta County led the state with 214,319 plants seized as part of the
state-led Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, a multi-agency task
force. Shasta was followed by Lake, Tulare and Fresno counties, where
marijuana seizures topped 100,000.

"Our achievements are dampened by the sober reality that armed
criminal growers are more willing than ever to use public lands and
put outdoor enthusiasts at risk and damage California's environment,"
Attorney General Bill Lockyer said in a statement.

Michael Johnson, special agent supervisor of the state Bureau of
Narcotic Enforcement, said law enforcement agents have become more
skilled at spotting marijuana gardens, but at the same time, it
appears more gardens are being planted.

Some narcotics agents attribute the increase to a post Sept. 11,
2001, crackdown on border traffic, while others say the legalization
of medical marijuana may have made it less risky and cheaper to sell
pot grown locally.

"The drug trafficking organizations see the potential for a large
profit," Johnson said in an interview.

Johnson said many of the marijuana gardens, and particularly large
gardens that are becoming more common -- appear to have been set up
by Mexican drug cartels who are increasingly moving marijuana growing
operations to California's public land.

Nearly 75 percent of the confiscated pot plants were found on public
land, including state and national parks and forests. That's up from
about 60 percent last year.

In Santa Clara County, marijuana gardens have been found during the
last year in Henry Coe State Park, as well as in Castle Rock State
Park and Big Basin State Park in Santa Cruz County.

Waldherr said the most popular places for growing marijuana in the
county are in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains and near the
Gilroy Hot Springs.

Waldherr said if he had additional manpower, his team would likely
find more gardens. His team is part of the sheriff's special
operations division; currently, there are two deputies assigned to
the team full-time for roughly eight months a year. Those positions
are funded by a state grant from the Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

Often, deputies find marijuana gardens simply by taking a map and
imagining where a trafficker might plant. "You obviously can't have
two guys hike every ravine in the county," Waldherr said.

The work is also dangerous. A state Fish and Game warden was shot in
the legs during an August raid on a marijuana farm near Mount Umunhum.

Statewide, 76 weapons were seized during 237 raids in 31 counties.
Forty-two people were arrested.

In Santa Clara County, a total of four weapons were seized, including
a rifle, a shotgun and two semi-automatic pistols. Four people were arrested.
Member Comments
No member comments available...