Pubdate: Sat, 01 Sep 2001
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2001 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Monte Morin, Times Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)

MARIJUANA FARM NEARLY INVISIBLE ON TERRACED O.C. MOUNTAIN SLOPE

Drugs: Sheriff's Deputies Hack Down 2,000 Plants Cultivated With An 
Ingenious Irrigation System And Hidden By Trees On Remote, Nearly Vertical 
Terrain.

To hear narcotics investigators tell it, whoever cultivated more than 2,000 
marijuana plants in rugged Trabuco Canyon was part botanist, part 
camouflage expert and part mountain goat.

Toiling for months on the plantation, the growers hiked up near-vertical 
slopes in the Cleveland National Forest, hauling young seedlings and 
irrigation hoses with them, then digging terraces into the canyon slopes to 
sow their crops.

In a densely grown region populated by coyotes, rattlesnakes and quail, the 
unknown planters knew enough to farm on the canyon's moist, shaded slopes, 
not the sun-seared dry faces. They also planted the pot beneath trees so 
their illegal plantation would remain nearly invisible from spying 
helicopters. Dust was used to camouflage an ingenious irrigation system of 
plastic tubing that drew water from tiny storm-water gullies and creeks. 
The planters probably returned to the scene--a three-hour hike from the 
nearest road--every other week. They punched small holes in the irrigation 
hoses so they would drip water on the base of the plants, which were spaced 
irregularly over several acres.

Orange County sheriff's deputies finished hacking down the 3- to 
6-foot-high cannabis shoots Friday, describing the operation as the 
county's biggest marijuana farm. While much larger plantations have been 
found elsewhere in the state, investigators said this farm is significant 
because marijuana is rarely grown in any quantity in Orange County.

They also conceded that they might never have uncovered the operation 
without the help of an anonymous caller.

"If we hadn't gotten this tip, this field could have been there another 15 
years," said John Fleischman, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's 
Department. "You couldn't even tell it was there if you were right on top 
of it in a helicopter. You could only see the plants that had grown so tall 
that they were peeking through the trees."

While investigators marveled at the remoteness of the farm--narcotics 
agents spent three hours hiking to it and even killed a rattlesnake they 
stumbled upon--authorities said they were still perplexed about who planted 
the marijuana. A closer inspection of the area may reveal clues.

"It's very difficult to determine who did this unless they left something 
behind," said Capt. Kim Markuson of the sheriff's special investigations 
division. "As we clear the field, we're looking for evidence like store 
receipts for their equipment."

Investigators declined to say what motivated the anonymous caller, calling 
such information part of their ongoing investigation. However, a Web site 
operated by High Times, a magazine that writes about the drug culture, 
offers this insight into how such caches are discovered: "Most often, 
growers or dealers are not entrapped by a narc--they are informed on by a 
suspicious neighbor, jealous spouse, angry 'friend,' or misguided 
acquaintance."

Because the land is owned by the federal government, property records will 
shed no light on the planter's identity.

On average, Orange County authorities raid one or two outdoor pot farms 
each year. Usually, the raids yield anywhere from 500 to 1,000 plants. 
Narcotics investigators said they had found 2,000 plants at the Trabuco 
Canyon farm and were still counting. They estimated the street value at $3 
million to $3.5 million.

"This particular farm is rather extensive," Markuson said. "If you're 
standing at one end, you can't see to the other."

By late afternoon Friday, deputies had hauled out the first load of 
harvested plants by helicopter--a mere dent in the pile. They then began 
the tedious process of bagging the plants in paper evidence sacks and 
loading them into a truck. Eventually the pot will be destroyed by burning, 
an option that was not open to deputies Friday.

"There's no way we could have burned those plants in the field," Markuson 
said. "We would have had a tremendous forest fire."
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart