Pubdate: Tue, 10 Jan 2006
Source: Payson Roundup, The (AZ)
Copyright: 2006 The Payson Roundup
Contact:  http://www.paysonroundup.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1523
Author: Max Foster, Roundup staff reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

OUTDOOR ENTHUSIASTS ASKED TO WATCH FOR FOREST DRUG OPERATIONS

Gila County Narcotics Task Force agents continue to search for 
illegal marijuana gardens with the same fervor that drove them during 
last summer's peak growing season.

The difference in winter searches is that agents no longer are 
looking for mature plants but rather signals and signs that a site 
could be, or might have been, a growing field.

Those signs include cultivated land, abandoned campsites, trash, 
plastic pipe, fertilizer sacks or 1/2- to 1-inch severed plant stalks 
in very remote areas of the Coconino and Tonto National forests.

"The plastic pipe, used for irrigation, is a good sign," a GCNTF 
agent said. "It can be coiled up or stretched out on the ground."

Winter searches for gardens received an unexpected boost from Mother 
Nature when snowstorms didn't arrive on schedule. With no snow on the 
ground in the higher elevations, the gardens are more easily spotted.

Because citizen tips played a large role in eradicating 110,939 
plants with a street value of more than $200 million last summer, 
agents are again asking for help in finding gardens.

"There are a lot of hunters, hikers and horn collectors out there," 
the agent said. "We are asking them to watch for possible garden 
sites, and if they are found, call us at (928) 474-0728."

Agents say even if the gardens and campsites have been abandoned, 
there is a chance the illegal growers will return next spring to 
begin a new crop. Also, some growers prep new gardens in the fall and 
early winter, leave them, then return in the spring to tend the plants.

"Any tips we receive will help us get a jump-start on next spring and 
summer," the agent said.

Although GCNTF agents don't believe any growers will be tending 
gardens in the winter, they urge citizens who come across a possible 
site to be wary and leave the area immediately. The word of caution 
comes on the heels of a Sept. 2, 2005 incident in which three 
Hispanic men overseeing a marijuana garden exchanged gunfire with 
bear hunters who stumbled upon their illegal fields. After one of the 
hunters found himself face-to-face with a suspected grower, he 
backtracked, but not before several shots rang out. The hunter later 
reunited with his three friends on a nearby ridge. Together, they 
decided on a show of force and fired shots in the direction in which 
the suspect had been seen. The confrontation occurred near the Cross 
F Ranch south of Payson.

Ranch foreman Jeff Haught said he had an inkling for years that 
pot-growing operations could have been going on in the rugged, remote area.

Agents raided the canyon where the shooting occurred and found two 
marijuana gardens about a half-mile apart. Forest Service fire crews 
later eradicated 5,689 marijuana plants found there.

During the busy summer, drug agents raided seven gardens and arrested 
13 Mexican nationals. All were charged with conspiracy to manufacture 
marijuana, which carries a minimum sentence of 10 years to life.
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