BluntKilla
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Calaveras and Tuolumne narcotics officers are this year on track to pull record numbers of marijuana plants from public lands.
Tuolumne County agents have already destroyed 47,854 plants this year, well ahead of the 36,285 they pulled up and burned in 2005. They say it's their best year ever.
And while Calaveras County officers have destroyed only a few thousand plants so far, they have plenty of gardens targeted but yet to be eradicated.
"We anticipate a record-setting year," said Sgt. Dave Seawell, head of the Calaveras County Sheriff's Narcotics Unit. "We will break the 21,000 we got last year. Right now, we have more marijuana than we know what to do with."
Answers vary as to why numbers are so high.
Seawell credits a stable number of seasoned narcotics investigators who know from experience where and how to look for plants.
Plus, he said, narcotics officers have spent a lot of time flying over the county spotting gardens.
Perhaps the biggest factor, however, is Mother Nature – heavy spring rains helped nurture growers' crops.
"The increase in plant count is because the gardens are bigger," said Tuolumne County Sheriff Lt. Dan Bressler. "The gardens are bigger because there was so much rain this past year. Streams are full and a lot of water runoff means they're better able to supply their gardens."
Bressler said the number of plants taken so far is the highest number in the county's history and there are still more gardens to be eradicated before the season ends.
Neither county has arrested anyone growing marijuana on public lands.
"It's tough to be sneaky quiet," said Seawell. "They have planned escape routes, they are running away without all the gear on that we have. And they are highly motivated to get away."
Law enforcement officials believe most of the marijuana growers are Mexican nationals hired by and supplied by large drug cartels from Mexico and South America. Many of the growers are armed, have set up elaborate camps deep in the forest and have been at the camps long enough to become quite familiar with the terrain.
"They have been living in the mountains, they are adapted to the environment. They are usually small, thin and they run quite fast," Bressler said.
Two men were arrested in Tuolumne County after narcotics officers found two indoor growing operations –- one in Columbia and one in Jamestown.
Law enforcement officers from both counties at times get help removing marijuana from officers working for the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement's Campaign Against Marijuana Planting.
However, CAMP's services are needed throughout the state and individual counties need to schedule times for CAMP to get involved, Seawell said.
"We do a large majority of our eradication on our own," Seawell said.
Narcotics officers often get help from U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service law enforcement officers.
In early July, Stanislaus National Forest law enforcement officials helped Tuolumne County Sheriff's deputies haul out about 10,000 plants from two gardens growing on Forest Service land near Buck Meadows, east of Groveland.
Seawell and Bressler said it is hard to catch outdoor growers.
Most of the ammunition recovered from the camp sites is for .22 caliber rifles, Bressler said. That's the size gun the growers use to kill small animals that come into the camps.
So far, no guns have been confiscated by either Calaveras or Tuolumne county narcotics officers.
Narcotics officials plan to wrap up their eradication efforts by October.
Newshawk: BluntKilla - 420 Magazine
Source: The Union Democrat
Pubdate: August 21, 2006
Author: AMY LINDBLOM
Copyright: © Copyright 2000-2006 Western Communications, Inc
Contact: alindblom@uniondemocrat.com
Website: UnionDemocrat.com - The Union Democrat Online
Tuolumne County agents have already destroyed 47,854 plants this year, well ahead of the 36,285 they pulled up and burned in 2005. They say it's their best year ever.
And while Calaveras County officers have destroyed only a few thousand plants so far, they have plenty of gardens targeted but yet to be eradicated.
"We anticipate a record-setting year," said Sgt. Dave Seawell, head of the Calaveras County Sheriff's Narcotics Unit. "We will break the 21,000 we got last year. Right now, we have more marijuana than we know what to do with."
Answers vary as to why numbers are so high.
Seawell credits a stable number of seasoned narcotics investigators who know from experience where and how to look for plants.
Plus, he said, narcotics officers have spent a lot of time flying over the county spotting gardens.
Perhaps the biggest factor, however, is Mother Nature – heavy spring rains helped nurture growers' crops.
"The increase in plant count is because the gardens are bigger," said Tuolumne County Sheriff Lt. Dan Bressler. "The gardens are bigger because there was so much rain this past year. Streams are full and a lot of water runoff means they're better able to supply their gardens."
Bressler said the number of plants taken so far is the highest number in the county's history and there are still more gardens to be eradicated before the season ends.
Neither county has arrested anyone growing marijuana on public lands.
"It's tough to be sneaky quiet," said Seawell. "They have planned escape routes, they are running away without all the gear on that we have. And they are highly motivated to get away."
Law enforcement officials believe most of the marijuana growers are Mexican nationals hired by and supplied by large drug cartels from Mexico and South America. Many of the growers are armed, have set up elaborate camps deep in the forest and have been at the camps long enough to become quite familiar with the terrain.
"They have been living in the mountains, they are adapted to the environment. They are usually small, thin and they run quite fast," Bressler said.
Two men were arrested in Tuolumne County after narcotics officers found two indoor growing operations –- one in Columbia and one in Jamestown.
Law enforcement officers from both counties at times get help removing marijuana from officers working for the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement's Campaign Against Marijuana Planting.
However, CAMP's services are needed throughout the state and individual counties need to schedule times for CAMP to get involved, Seawell said.
"We do a large majority of our eradication on our own," Seawell said.
Narcotics officers often get help from U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service law enforcement officers.
In early July, Stanislaus National Forest law enforcement officials helped Tuolumne County Sheriff's deputies haul out about 10,000 plants from two gardens growing on Forest Service land near Buck Meadows, east of Groveland.
Seawell and Bressler said it is hard to catch outdoor growers.
Most of the ammunition recovered from the camp sites is for .22 caliber rifles, Bressler said. That's the size gun the growers use to kill small animals that come into the camps.
So far, no guns have been confiscated by either Calaveras or Tuolumne county narcotics officers.
Narcotics officials plan to wrap up their eradication efforts by October.
Newshawk: BluntKilla - 420 Magazine
Source: The Union Democrat
Pubdate: August 21, 2006
Author: AMY LINDBLOM
Copyright: © Copyright 2000-2006 Western Communications, Inc
Contact: alindblom@uniondemocrat.com
Website: UnionDemocrat.com - The Union Democrat Online
