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Authorities raided a remote marijuana grove in the San Bernardino Mountains on Friday, hauling out thousands of plants by helicopter from a rugged canyon about seven miles north of Highway 62.
About 7,000 plants had been thriving before fire crews battling last week's Sawtooth Complex Fire came upon the two-mile swath of plants tucked into a steep, rocky canyon lining Little Morongo Creek, said San Bernardino County sheriff's Lt. Charles Willis.
The plants, 3 to 6 feet tall, were watered by an elaborate irrigation network of plastic pipes from the nearby creek bed, said George Ramirez, a service specialist with the sheriff's narcotics division.
Authorities placed a value of $21 million on the plants. One plant can yield about $3,000 worth of marijuana, Ramirez said.
No arrests have been made and investigators reported no known suspects.
About 30 sheriff's Marijuana Eradication Team members and California Department of Justice agents working since 6 a.m. tore out the nearly budding stalks by the root, securing thousand-pound loads with heavy-duty black netting.
Clad in camouflage fatigues and wearing leather work gloves, Ramirez unpacked the bundles as helicopters ferried them to a former Sawtooth Fire landing zone near the dirt intersection of Cheyenne and Desert Willow trails.
He opened tarps bearing evidence of a clandestine campout -- eggs, cooking utensils, Gatorade and assorted clothing along with a crude warning system. Empty beer cans filled with small pebbles hung from small tree branches and underbrush, apparently to alert campers of unwanted visitors, Ramirez said.
"It's in an area that we were totally unaware of," Ramirez said, estimating as many as 10 people could have been guarding the site at one point. "They hung their supplies on the trees to keep them away from bears and other forest critters. ... No bodies found as of yet."
Last year, authorities uprooted more than 1.1 million pot plants from California parks and forests, more than twice the 2004 total, according to the state attorney general's office.
San Bernardino County reported 17,281 plant confiscations in 2005, while Riverside County had 29,515, California Department of Justice statistics showed.
The Little Morongo operation apparently was a little ahead of the standard fall harvesting period.
"Another month and you'd have full bud," Ramirez said.
Newshawk: SX420 - 420 Magazine
Source: The Press Enterprise
Author: PAUL DeCARLO
Copyright: 2006, The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact: pdecarlo@PE.com
Website: PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California
About 7,000 plants had been thriving before fire crews battling last week's Sawtooth Complex Fire came upon the two-mile swath of plants tucked into a steep, rocky canyon lining Little Morongo Creek, said San Bernardino County sheriff's Lt. Charles Willis.
The plants, 3 to 6 feet tall, were watered by an elaborate irrigation network of plastic pipes from the nearby creek bed, said George Ramirez, a service specialist with the sheriff's narcotics division.
Authorities placed a value of $21 million on the plants. One plant can yield about $3,000 worth of marijuana, Ramirez said.
No arrests have been made and investigators reported no known suspects.
About 30 sheriff's Marijuana Eradication Team members and California Department of Justice agents working since 6 a.m. tore out the nearly budding stalks by the root, securing thousand-pound loads with heavy-duty black netting.
Clad in camouflage fatigues and wearing leather work gloves, Ramirez unpacked the bundles as helicopters ferried them to a former Sawtooth Fire landing zone near the dirt intersection of Cheyenne and Desert Willow trails.
He opened tarps bearing evidence of a clandestine campout -- eggs, cooking utensils, Gatorade and assorted clothing along with a crude warning system. Empty beer cans filled with small pebbles hung from small tree branches and underbrush, apparently to alert campers of unwanted visitors, Ramirez said.
"It's in an area that we were totally unaware of," Ramirez said, estimating as many as 10 people could have been guarding the site at one point. "They hung their supplies on the trees to keep them away from bears and other forest critters. ... No bodies found as of yet."
Last year, authorities uprooted more than 1.1 million pot plants from California parks and forests, more than twice the 2004 total, according to the state attorney general's office.
San Bernardino County reported 17,281 plant confiscations in 2005, while Riverside County had 29,515, California Department of Justice statistics showed.
The Little Morongo operation apparently was a little ahead of the standard fall harvesting period.
"Another month and you'd have full bud," Ramirez said.
Newshawk: SX420 - 420 Magazine
Source: The Press Enterprise
Author: PAUL DeCARLO
Copyright: 2006, The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact: pdecarlo@PE.com
Website: PE.com | Southern California News | News for Inland Southern California
