Top narcotics enforcers gathered Wednesday in Sacramento to announce this year's record seizure of marijuana plants from public and private lands and to decry the damage to California's natural resources caused by Mexican drug cartels' pot gardens.
At a briefing hosted by the U.S. attorney's office, the drug cops said raids in 40 of the state's 58 counties yielded more than 5.2 million plants seized and destroyed. Nearly 70 percent of them were growing on state and federal land, the officers said.
The eradicated plants would have had a wholesale value of $15.8 billion, they said.
"This is not a bunch of hippies in a Volkswagen bus growing a little pot in the woods," said Ron Pugh, chief U.S. Forest Service investigator.
The continued discovery of record numbers of plants is the result of a collaborative effort by federal, state and local agencies.
"Our enforcement effort outstrips any other state," said U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott.
The officers reported more than 221 people – all Mexican nationals in the United States illegally – were arrested and 244 weapons were confiscated in the 2008 eradication season, which began in July and continued through October.
Those left to guard the gardens "are extremely well-armed and instructed to defend them at all costs," said Scott. "These criminal enterprises pose great risk to those simply seeking to enjoy these lands in the manner for which they were intended.
"If you find yourself in the wrong place, the odds are you will encounter someone with an AK-47" assault rifle, he said.
"Illegal marijuana cultivation is wreaking havoc on our public lands, causing extensive environmental damage to these precious resources," said Timothy Landrum, special agent in charge of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration's Los Angeles office.
Pot garden builders divert streams and clear-cut acres of forests, while watersheds, soil and groundwater are poisoned by pesticides and fertilizers, Scott said.
The type of pesticide used by the cartels must be imported from Mexico because it is not available in this country due to its harmful effects on humans and animal and plant life, Pugh said.
Scott said the cartels favor California to grow their pot because of its "vast amounts of rural public land, including the national forests, its temperate climate, and a culture of acceptance of marijuana in certain parts of the state."
In and around Sequoia National Park, an area that regularly leads the nation in large-scale marijuana cultivation, 524,000 plants were seized this year.
Counties with the highest number of eradicated plants in 2008 were Lake, 499,508; Tulare, 395,489; Shasta, 394,375; Mendocino, 231,802; and Humboldt, 145,762.
El Dorado County ranked 19th with 35,454 plants, Yuba County ranked 22nd with 11,251 plants, Yolo ranked 25th with 8,924 plants, Amador 30th with 5,729, and Placer 32nd with 3,924. There were no raids in Sacramento and Sutter counties.
Call The Bee's Denny Walsh, (916) 321-1189.
