Pubdate: Sat, 27 Aug 2005 Source: Salinas Californian, The (CA) Copyright: 2005 The Salinas Californian Contact: http://www.californianonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3900 Note: Priority is given to letters from Monterey County residents Author: Kimberly Chase, The Salinas Californian Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California) POT RAIDS WEED OUT HIDDEN GARDENS Mexican Drug Cartels Blamed First Of Two Parts Monterey County drug investigators say they're set to surpass last year's totals in seek-and-destroy missions on marijuana gardens, an increasing number of which are run by Mexican drug cartels. The Sheriff's Office's Narcotics Division has gotten a head start on this year's marijuana crop: Last year's raids brought in 13,500 plants, but the deputies already have destroyed almost 12,000 this year in seven raids, with nearly two months to go in the harvest season. Next week, there are three raids planned, with an estimated total of 6,000 plants. "I suspect we're probably going to top last year's numbers without any difficulty," said investigative Sgt. Doug Dahmen, who directs the Narcotics Division. The gardens cause environmental damage to the forests, and their armed guards pose dangers to innocent hikers. Dahmen said these raids are far more effective in curtailing drug use than stopping people with small quantities on the street. "If you can get it at the source, you're disrupting the trade with substantially more success than if you get it at the street level," he said. "It has a much larger ripple effect." In the latest raid in Monterey County, the sheriff's narcotics unit Thursday collected 1,915 pot plants near Gorda with an estimated street value of $6.7 million. On Aug. 18, local law enforcement officials performed their most productive eradication operations yet this year, destroying almost 7,500 plants worth about $37.5 million at two gardens west of the Arroyo Seco Campgrounds near Greenfield. The farms raided Aug. 18 had the tell-tale signs of Mexican drug cartels, Dahmen said, including large crop sizes and evidence of armed guards prepared to stay for the entire season. The lookouts had left behind both bullet casings and supplies, he said. "They've got huge resources," Dahmen said of cartels. "They're in it to make money - big-time money." Added sophistication Mexican cartels grow larger crops than local growers, typically using undocumented workers to guard and tend them, he said. "What we've seen throughout the state is that these people will insert Mexican nationals into the growth areas to cultivate this marijuana," Dahmen said. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration also is dealing with a swell in cartel-run marijuana plots in Northern California, said Casey McEnry, public information officer for the DEA in San Francisco. "We are seeing an increase in Mexican criminal organizations beginning to take shape and form and beginning to run these marijuana groves," McEnry said. The DEA identifies the cartels by the nationality of arrested workers and by the way the crops are cultivated, she said. In Monterey County, where the Sheriff's Office eradicates about 20 marijuana gardens each year, more and more are cultivated in the highly organized way characteristic of the Mexican groups. Dahmen said he suspects cartels grow marijuana in the United States to avoid interception at the border, which is more likely as homeland security measures increase. The sergeant described a sophisticated system of back-country harvesting hidden in remote locations: Armed workers camp at the sites for the summer, receiving packages of food at predetermined locations under the cover of darkness and crawling between the plants to stay invisible. They can be paid from $5,000 to $15,000 for a season, he said. "They are well-financed and often armed, and they basically are in there for the duration," Dahmen said. At $5,000 per plant, a cartel can make millions by using laborers to grow the drug. "If they can spend $15,000 for five people and have a crop the size of (Thursday's), $37.5 million, there's a substantial profit margin," Dahmen said. Even if the growers lose half of their crop, they still make a significant profit, he said. The workers carve out niches in the hillsides for planting and start the stalks from seed, fending off wild animals and using illegal pesticides on the crops. When the plants are mature, they remove the harvest by hiking out on trails, using pack mules or bringing in helicopters, depending on how much funding they have available, Dahmen said. Well armed, financed The gardens can pose a danger to passersby, with guards armed with weapons ranging from handguns to AK-47s. "Usually what we see with these organizations is that those that are tending to the plants are armed and very dangerous," McEnry said. The guards typically leave the groves when they hear law enforcement approaching, but a recent confrontation in Santa Clara County has led deputies to exercise extra caution. During an Aug. 5 raid on a 50,000-plant garden in the open space reserve surrounding Mount Umunhum, a 25-year-old warden for the California Department of Fish and Game was shot by a single bullet that traveled through both of his legs, and a suspect was killed. In Monterey County, marijuana seizures have increased since 1992, when federal funding enabled the creation of the County of Monterey Marijuana Eradication Team, now supervised by Dahmen, to address the problem year-round. The outdoor growing season runs from April to September or October, depending on weather, but crops cultivated indoors can grow through the winter. For the Aug. 18 raids, COMMET teamed up with the U.S. Forest Service, the California State Department of Justice's Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, sheriff's narcotics detectives and the National Guard, seizing the plants and flying them out by helicopter. A full-size dump truck took them to an undisclosed site, where they were destroyed. A statewide problem Marijuana gardens are a problem statewide, with toxic pesticides polluting the land and armed guards posing a danger to unsuspecting hikers. CAMP has seized more than 4 million plants - valued at more than $16 billion - in its 22-year history. In 2004, CAMP conducted raids in 30 of the state's 58 counties, assisting local law enforcement with equipment and personnel, said Robin Schwanke, spokeswoman for the California DOJ. "The illegal gardens seized by CAMP are contaminating our water, destroying our land and also presenting increased risk for innocent hikers that may inadvertently stumble across one of these gardens that are guarded by armed men," Attorney General Bill Lockyer said in a statement last month. California's marijuana seizures are increasing year by year, a result of surveillance by plane coupled with larger garden sizes, the statement said. From 1994 to 2004, the average raid grew from roughly 400 to about 3,400 plants. Last year, CAMP found and destroyed about $2.5 billion of the drug, a record achievement. And this year, this amount already has surpassed that, with $2.54 billion, according to the DOJ. Schwanke said 784,272 plants have been eradicated in 128 raids this year to date. CAMP's raid season targets the harvest period with about four teams out each day. Safety concerns for hikers Gardens vary in size and location, but Dahmen said major cultivators often seek out public areas because if marijuana is found on private property the land can be confiscated. That raises concerns that people hiking in remote areas may come across camps like these and get into dangerous situations. "It's entirely possible," he said. "The forest is a beautiful place to visit, and that's why the USFS supports our efforts in trying to eradicate these gardens." Dahmen said hikers who encounter marijuana patches or aggressive individuals in the forest should back away immediately and call 9-1-1. But the problem is persistent and stands to increase as Mexican cartels take advantage of northern California's expansive parklands, which offer perfect conditions for the plant. "Monterey County has an ideal climate for growing marijuana out of doors," Dahmen said. "We've had enforcement actions for as long as we can remember." - --- MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman