Pubdate: Thu, 30 Oct 2003
Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA)
Copyright: 2003 San Jose Mercury News
Contact:  http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/390
Author: Howard Mintz

POT POLICE SEE SHIFT TO LARGE PLANTATIONS

California authorities this year have seized record amounts of marijuana 
crops growing on pot farms in all corners of the state, but Silicon Valley 
apparently is no longer a haven for the secret harvests.

The state's annual Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, or CAMP, netted 
marijuana plants worth an estimated $1.9 billion, a dramatic jump over past 
years that reflects what law enforcement officials say are increasingly 
aggressive Mexican drug cartels growing the crop in secluded public areas 
such as the Sequoia National Forest.

``This shows the skyrocketing numbers of large plantations,'' Attorney 
General Bill Lockyer said during a news conference in San Jose.

Santa Clara County, where authorities two years ago found more pot growing 
than just about anywhere in California, was well down the list of trouble 
spots during this pot season. Tulare County, the target earlier this month 
of a major raid in the steep, remote hills of an Indian reservation, topped 
the state's list this year, with more than 140,000 pot plants confiscated.

Overall, the CAMP program seized more than 466,000 plants, 100,000 more 
than last year. Authorities seized more than 6,000 plants each in Santa 
Cruz and Monterey counties, more than 5,000 in Santa Clara, and more than 
1,500 in San Mateo.

California's traditional pot-growing region of Humboldt, Trinity and 
Mendocino counties, known as the ``Emerald Triangle,'' is no longer the 
only favored spot of pot growers, at least on an annual basis. While 
Mendocino was third in pot seizures, large pot farms are now dotting other 
counties such as Shasta, Kern and even Napa's wine country.

In a new trend, 75 percent of pot farms found by state authorities were on 
public lands, as marijuana growers have turned to planting their weed in 
forests meant for hikers and campers.

Officials say Mexican drug organizations, which in the past smuggled pot 
into the United States from Mexico, are finding it easier to plant in the 
rich soil of California's most remote regions. And they are increasingly 
guarding the farms with armed lookouts.

``We're becoming a source country for high-grade marijuana,'' said Dave 
Tresmontan, acting chief of California's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement.

Lockyer trumpeted the big haul in this year's CAMP program, even though he 
also has been at the forefront in California of supporting the 
medicinal-marijuana movement. He has criticized federal raids such as one 
last year on a Santa Cruz medicinal pot cooperative.

Lockyer said he makes a distinction between cracking down on large 
commercial pot growers and those who may be cultivating small amounts for 
medicinal use.

``I distinguish between that which is legal and medically needed, and the 
large narco-trafficking rings,'' he said.
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MAP posted-by: Perry Stripling