102,000 plants destroyed in Sonoma County, twice previous record

Pub Date: September 10, 2005
Pub Source: Santa Rosa Press Democrat

http://www.pressdemocrat.com

Area pot seizures setting records

102,000 plants destroyed in Sonoma County, twice previous record

By MARY CALLAHAN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Barely halfway into their annual crackdown on marijuana production,
Sonoma County drug agents already have seized a record 102,000 plants.

That's up from 28,000 for all of last year and more than twice the
previous high, the Sheriff's Department said.

The spike mirrors an upswing around the state attributed in part to
larger gardens, which, authorities say is a reflection of increased
investments by Mexican drug cartels.

"Somebody's planting a lot of marijuana out there, and it's not local
people just growing it for personal use," said Michael Johnson,
commander of the state's Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, or
CAMP. "These people are growing to make a profit. A big profit."

CAMP seizures have hit 925,000 plants around the state, smashing
2004's record 621,315. At an estimated street value of about $4,000 a
pound, authorities say they have confiscated $3.7 billion worth of
marijuana.

"Last year, the average raid netted about 3,500 plants," Justice
Department spokeswoman Robin Schwanke said. "This year, the average
raid is netting about 6,500 plants, so you can kind of already see a
huge difference."

About half of Sonoma County's seizures came from two sophisticated
pot farms found in the Austin Creek State Recreation Area in July.

One garden yielded 23,650 plants; a second, about 21,000, said
Sheriff's Sgt. Chris Bertoli, who heads the county's narcotics task
force.

Mendocino County's Marijuana Eradication Team said its seizures had
topped 100,000 plants, while Lake County agents have pulled 125,992
plants, up from a record 84,500 last year, Chief Sheriff's Deputy
Russ Perdock said.

In Napa County, seizures have reached 88,000, said Gary Pitkin,
commander of the Special Investigations Bureau.

"We've darn near tripled our previous record, which was in 2002, and
in '02 the record was at roughly 28,000 plants," Pitkin said.

Around the region, the growth patterns are similar: lots of
clandestine gardens near vineyards, where irrigation systems often
are illicitly tapped, and many on public lands, often planted in
illegally clear-cut areas and irrigated from dammed and diverted
streams.

The gardens are increasingly sophisticated and the pot more potent,
officials said.

Marijuana that in the past might have had 8 percent THP, the
psychoactive ingredient, now might contain 34 percent.

"It's crazy," said Johnson, the CAMP chief.

State and federal drug officials have said for several years that
Mexican drug trafficking organizations are behind the growth in pot
production. They say their statements are based in part on
intelligence not made public.

Other evidence includes the capital needed to fund the cultivation of
20,000-plant gardens, often protected by security systems, as well as
the organizational infrastructure needed to process, distribute and
market 20,000 pounds of harvested pot, authorities said.

A new investigative team connected to CAMP is working full time on
the link to Mexican traffickers, collecting and sifting through
intelligence already obtained, Johnson said. A second unit is being
formed.

Authorities said rising seizures also reflect improved coordination
and focus on eradication efforts.

But there's something else: Wheras growers in the 1980s and 1990s had
learned to cultivate small plots of perhaps 50 plants
well-camouflaged by manzanita and chemise, the trend now is multiple,
huge gardens, planted undisguised but in remote locations, Bertoli
and others said.

Losing some to law enforcement raids is just the cost of doing
business, Johnson said.

"They're overwhelming us with numbers," Sonoma County Sheriff's Lt.
Roger Rude said. "There appears to be a shotgun approach with the
anticipation that there's going to be a calculated loss."