Pubdate: Fri, 11 Jul 2008 Source: Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA) Copyright: 2008 The Press-Enterprise Company Contact: http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/letters_form.html Website: http://www.pe.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830 Author: Gene Ghiotto, The Press-Enterprise Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Marijuana - California) POLICE NAB MORE THAN 60,000 MARIJUANA PLANTS Deputies seized more than 60,000 marijuana plants over the past week from the Santa Ana River bed west of Norco, potentially removing millions of dollars from the pockets of drug dealers, sheriff's officials said. The operation ended Thursday morning when deputies assigned to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department Special Enforcement Bureau hiked in and pulled up the last 18,673 plants at what was called a "grow site." The federal Drug Enforcement Administration has estimated the value of such marijuana plants at $3,000 to $5,000 each, said sheriff's Sgt. Glenn Williams, head of the marijuana eradication program. "It's the cash cow of drugs," Williams said. The effort began last week, with Thursday's work being the last of four operations. Deputies would not reveal how the site was discovered. The plants, many of them more than 6 feet tall, were piled into cargo nets and flown out by helicopter, destined for a landfill. No arrests were made. "It's very difficult to catch these guys," Williams said. "They have preplanned escape routes and hiding spots. They live in there." Williams said the number of marijuana plants seized has been increasing over the years. A couple of years ago, he said, about 90,000 plants were seized, followed by about 181,000 plants last year. Part of the increase is the result of warmer weather extending the growing period, from February through October, he said. "This year, we've topped 200,000 and there's still two or three more solid months to go," Williams said. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake