A federal grand jury in Sacramento indicted 13 people on Thursday accused of belonging to a West Coast drug organization, authorities said.
About $5 million to $6 million worth of marijuana and $60,000 to $70,000 worth of methamphetamine were seized when the men were arrested July 30, officials said.
Authorities said the suspects are illegal Mexican immigrants who grew the plants on federal and state lands.
Prosecutors say one of the men, Hubert Mario Ramirez, 24, of Stockton financed a large marijuana plot on federal land in western El Dorado County and another on Clementine State Park near Auburn in Placer County.
Others indicted: Samuel Botello Mondragon, 25; Adrian Ortega-Diaz, 39; Miguel Villa-Contreras, 24; Ruben Diaz, 31; Eduardo Villa-Contreras, 26, Jose Juan Ayalla-Lopez, 20; Jose Alfredo Villa-Via Senor, 20; Julio Adrian Nevel, 31; Patricio Maleno, 33; Leno Arreola, 30; Pablo Arreola, 26; and Baltazar Vasquez, 43.
Mondragon and Ortega-Diaz are from Stockton. Vasquez is from Denair. The rest have unknown addresses.
The charges include manufacturing more than 1,000 plants of marijuana and possession with intent to distribute marijuana and methamphetamine. Ortega-Diaz was also charged with being a deported individual found in the United States.
U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott said more Mexican-based drug-trafficking organizations have used rural public lands for marijuana cultivation in the past five to 10 years.
Environmental damage from the pot fields cost $10,000 to $15,000 per acre to rehabilitate, said Troy Bolen of the Bureau of Land Management.
Call The Bee's Chelsea Phua, (916) 321-1132.
