Pubdate: Sat, 30 Nov 2013
Source: Modesto Bee, The (CA)
Copyright: 2013 The Modesto Bee
Contact:  http://www.modbee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/271
Authors: Carmen George and Lewis Griswold

ILLEGAL POT GROWS INCREASING IN THE VALLEY

The central San Joaquin Valley is one of the hottest spots in the 
nation for illegal marijuana grows.

Illegal growers are becoming bolder, many area sheriffs say, moving 
from historical hideouts in national forests to the Valley floor - 
even planting marijuana near elementary schools.

A key reason for the shift is California's medical marijuana law, 
which is being manipulated to earn illegal traffickers a hefty 
payday, officials say.

Growers often are shielded with doctor recommendations for medical 
marijuana and routinely grow up to 99 marijuana plants, since 100 
plants or more receive harsher penalties if prosecuted federally.

"The system has been exploited to no end," Kings County Sheriff Dave 
Robinson said. "These gang members get a medical marijuana card for a 
migraine headache."

U.S. Attorney Ben Wagner - whose district covers 34 counties, 
including Fresno - said his district is No. 1 in the nation for 
domestically produced marijuana.

"On the federal side, we see a lot of cases out of Fresno County in 
which people purport to grow for medical purposes, but in fact are 
shipped to other states for profit," Wagner said.

The dangers inherent with marijuana trafficking are real.

Three people were murdered in connection with marijuana growing this 
year in Fresno County and six were killed last year, said deputy Rick 
Ko, who for most of this year led marijuana investigations for the 
Sheriff's Office.

In October, a home-invasion robbery in Orange Cove left a suspected 
burglar dead after he was shot trying to break into a home being used 
as a marijuana-processing facility. Deputies found nearly 200 pounds 
of processed marijuana with a street value of $800,000.

In September, a marijuana "honey oil" operation, a process of 
extracting THC from the stems of plants, caused an explosion in 
Fresno's Tower District that left one man with second- and 
third-degree burns to 80% of his body. An ensuing apartment fire 
displaced seven families.

In Fresno County, Ko said, deputies have ripped out about 233,000 
plants this year, compared to about 80,000 in 2012. And the number of 
growing operations appears to be rising - 537 have been identified as 
of last month, compared to 412 in 2012.

But with limited law enforcement resources, just 113 of the 
identified Fresno County plantings had been removed as of Nov. 6. 
Last year, the number was 53.

Once an illegal grow is identified, deputies sometimes don't rip out 
plants for weeks unless a major crime like a murder or armed robbery 
also occurs.

Growing trend

The majority of marijuana growers stayed in the mountains until 
harsher crackdowns began in 2009, primarily in Sequoia and Sierra 
national forests, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said.

"For as long as I've been in law enforcement, which is almost 34 
years now, we would send people up in the mountains, we'd pull out 
marijuana, and it was a failed strategy, because we were doing the 
same thing over and over every year," Mims said.

"My question to my people was, 'Why isn't someone going to jail? Why 
aren't we getting prosecutions for this?' So it started a very strong 
enforcement campaign."

That 2009 campaign, "Save our Sierras," came with a directive from 
Mims: Remove 100% of identified illegal grows.

Deputies managed 110%: everything identified in 2009 and some from 
the year before.

It was a "landmark" year, Ko said, with nearly 424,000 plants pulled 
out and about 100 people arrested.

In 2010, a similar mountain campaign ensued, spanning Fresno, Madera 
and Tulare counties. The effort led to the arrest of 125 people and 
netted more than 600,000 plants.

Compared to data from the previous year, the number of plants pulled 
during the 2010 "Operation Trident" was third in the state, behind 
only Los Angeles and Shasta counties, Ko said. Mims was pleased by the results.

"One year we had about 90 grows in the mountains. Last year, we had 
four," Mims said.

But that led to a troubling development.

"What the marijuana growers figured out was, by using the roots of 
California's medical marijuana laws, they could grow on the Valley 
floor, post (medical marijuana) recommendations, and their feeling 
was it was completely legal," Mims said. "Our main challenge now are 
the Valley floor grows."

Mounting frustrations

In September, authorities eradicated several marijuana grows 
dangerously close to schools.

Thousands of plants were ripped out near Sequoia Elementary School 
southeast of Fresno after armed guards were spotted. In Clovis, shots 
were fired by guards of another large grow near Clovis North High 
School, Willow International College Center and Riverview Elementary 
School as marijuana thieves stole plants.

Between the two growing operations, 22 people were detained but soon 
released after deputies were told by federal prosecutors no one would 
be charged for lack of evidence and other factors.

In Madera County, a foothill grow was so close to Coarsegold 
Elementary School that it was discovered when a stray marijuana plant 
was found on the campus.

"I could have thrown a baseball to the playground from the marijuana 
patches," Madera County Sheriff John Anderson said.

Randy Hurley, 60, who lives a couple houses down from the former 
marijuana grow near Clovis North, said he knew about it for a while.

"It's frustrating as hell and it's so blatant," he said. "It makes 
you want to just go out there and do something about it, but you know 
that's stupid."

Deputies said they knew about the operation - concealed among bitter 
melon, tomato, corn and squash - for a couple weeks before it was eradicated.

Mims said growers "are not even trying to hide the marijuana anymore."

Money to be made

A pound of marijuana sold in the Valley goes for about $1,200, Mims 
said. In Boston, that same pound goes for about $4,200. Mims said 
California is known as the "source state" for black market marijuana.

To illustrate how profitable illegal marijuana growing is, Ko 
compared it to other crops.

An acre of marijuana is worth about $58 million, Ko said. 
Comparatively, an acre of a conventional crop like grapes only yields 
about $4,300.

Fresno County District Attorney Elizabeth Egan said marijuana growers 
are willing to take the chance of getting caught because of that "huge money."

"People from all over the nation are coming here to grow," Egan said.

Wagner added that illegal growers are coming in "all colors and 
backgrounds and criminal histories."

The laws

Anderson said four things historically were needed to grow marijuana: 
sunshine, water, time and seclusion. Now seclusion no longer is 
necessary - just a medical marijuana card.

In an attempt to evade prosecutors - who usually focus on the worst 
offenders - many illegal growers group together a number of medical 
marijuana recommendations and produce 99 plants for each 
recommendation, Ko said.

California's Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, was passed 
by voters in 1996. Along with treating people with serious illnesses, 
it states doctors can provide a medical marijuana recommendation for 
"any other illness for which marijuana provides relief."

"However, there are restrictions in the (state) law," Mims said. 
"There's a way for it to be legal, but people think it's just a 
free-for-all, and it's not."

And federally, marijuana is still illegal.

On top of that, each county has its own ordinance for marijuana growing.

In Fresno, Kings, Tulare and Madera counties, medical marijuana must 
be grown inside an enclosed structure. In Madera County, the growing 
space is limited to 120 square feet. In Tulare County, people with 
medical marijuana recommendations can only have six mature or 12 
immature plants.

Some also have cracked down on medical marijuana dispensaries, which 
are banned in Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties. In Madera County, 
officials prohibit dispensaries by refusing to issue them business 
licenses, since their operations are in violation of federal law, 
Anderson said. In Tulare County, collectives and cooperatives can 
only grow up to 99 plants.

Robinson said virtually all marijuana grown on the Valley floor is 
for illegal sales.

Anderson recalled one grower: she lived in Richfield, a town north of 
Sacramento, received a medical marijuana recommendation from a doctor 
in Tulare County, and was growing pot in Madera County.

"It's absurd," he said.

Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux said increased pressure on 
Valley floor growers would likely push more to the mountains, but 
they are here to stay unless the state either outlaws marijuana or 
regulates growing and distribution.

Going after growers

With more than 500 identified grows in Fresno County, deputies have 
to prioritize which grows are the highest priority to eradicate first.

The sheer number creates a waiting period for action - sometimes 
months. But on top of that, once deputies target a pot site, other 
factors play into a sometimes slow response.

If a serious crime or imminent danger isn't apparent at a growing 
site - such as a murder or shots fired - deputies investigate to 
ensure it isn't protected by medical marijuana recommendations before 
ripping out plants, Ko said. Or, if a grow is protected, deputies 
make a case showing that existing medical marijuana recommendations 
are excessive.

"It's a delicate balance," Boudreaux said. "If they say they're 
growing for 10 people and have 10 (medical marijuana) cards, we have 
to see if it's true."

Growing sites deemed legal under the state law are referred to county 
code enforcement, Boudreaux said, to ensure all ordinances are being upheld.

Ko said when search warrants are needed, deputies usually go through 
the U.S. Attorney's Office instead of the state, because all 
marijuana is illegal federally.

Prosecuting growers as criminals is another matter. Wagner said his 
office is hampered with reviewing a wide variety and large number of 
crimes, and have to focus on the worst offenders. Marijuana cases 
make up "a very, very small percentage" of total prosecutions.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Rooney, based in Fresno, acts as chief 
of a violent crime and narcotics unit that covers 11 counties from 
Modesto to Bakersfield.

The emergence of Valley marijuana grows has created an "enormous 
amount of work," he said.

Of those prosecuted, almost all grew 99 marijuana plants or more, 
Rooney said, and the jail sentences for those convicted ranged from 
about a year to 15 years.

In August, U.S. Deputy Attorney General James Cole issued new 
guidelines for federal attorneys around the country to help determine 
when prosecuting marijuana crimes should be a priority.

The list includes: preventing distribution of marijuana to minors, 
preventing marijuana sales dollars from funding criminal groups, and 
preventing marijuana transport from states where growing is legal in 
some form to states where it isn't.

Ko believes those detained at the Clovis grow near schools in 
September - where more than 8,000 plants worth an estimated $32 
million were found - fell within the guidelines for prosecution. But 
the suspects never saw a courtroom because of lack of evidence and 
other factors, Rooney said.

"Even though you can't prove it's going to minors, I'm sure there are 
instances of kids going there and stealing weed," Ko said. "It's so 
close to the road and so close to schools, and they (students) know 
it's there because you can smell it."

And because seven of 10 suspects were from out-of-state, marijuana 
likely was being shipped out of California, Ko said.

Moving forward

Changes are currently underway to stiffen Fresno County's marijuana 
growing ordinance.

In September, supervisors supported a new ordinance modeled after 
Kern County's, by which anyone caught with more than 12 plants could 
be charged with a misdemeanor, and additional fines could be levied 
up to $1,000 for every plant in excess of 12.

But when time came for the second and final vote, more questions 
arose and staff was directed to "go back to the drawing board, 
because we want to get this right," Supervisor Andreas Borgeas said.

County counsel is now looking at whether having more than one 
marijuana plant could be penalized, Borgeas said.

"It didn't seem in the public interest for there to be a cannabis 
count of 10 or 11 or 12, when all of the marijuana can be a serious 
risk to our community," he said. Staff are scheduled to present their 
findings Dec. 10, Mims said.

Rooney of the U.S. Attorney's Office said Kern County's ordinance was 
"very successful" in reducing large outdoor grows. Its marijuana 
issues are "night and day" from Fresno County's problems, he said.

In Congress, California Sen. Dianne Feinstein has pushed for 
increased dollars for investigation and enforcement.

Feinstein helped lobby for a federal boost earlier this month: 
$400,000 for a special Central Valley program headed by Mims - made 
up of many local, state and federal agencies in the Central Valley.

The senator said another way to combat drug traffickers is by 
prosecuting environmental violations, such as illegal use of pesticides.

Feinstein also is asking the federal Departments of Justice and 
Agriculture to start a public information campaign to educate farmers 
on how to protect themselves from illegal marijuana grows, often 
hidden among crops on their land.

But even with proposed changes, some sheriffs don't see the Valley 
pot predicament improving anytime soon.

"The last three or four years is where the boom has really happened," 
Anderson said. "It's just going to get worse."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom