MANY AGENCIES HELP KEEP KERN DRUG-FREE

Over the past several months, the Kern County Sheriff's Department has been
involved in the eradication of three marijuana gardens in the mountain
areas around Kern County. The size of each garden is unprecedented in Kern
County and California.

The department spearheaded the first investigation in the Saw Mill area of
the Lake Isabella Valley. The number of plants initially discovered
(13,345) is staggering, as is its street value of $46.7 million. Months
later, a second discovery in this area netted an additional 5,000 plants
valued at $3,000 to $3,500 each. The U.S. Forest Service and California
Drug Enforcement Agency joined us in these eradication efforts.

We also were involved in the confiscation of a marijuana garden on federal
land in the Breckenridge mountains. This garden was more than triple the
size of the first discovery, with 58,828 plants and a street value of
nearly $206 million. At least 90 law enforcement officers participated in
this action. Agencies included the U.S. Forest Service, Bakersfield Police
Department, California Drug Enforcement Agency and the Campaign Against
Marijuana Program and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force
cooperatives.

I had the privilege of participating in the take-down of two of the
gardens. Several factors were impressive about these gardens.

They were located in almost impassible, remote valleys in mountainous areas
placed so hunters and hikers would not stumble onto them accidentally.

It is inconceivable how workers tended to these gardens. An 80-pound bag of
fertilizer was located at the second site. It is unfathomable how the
workers hand carried these 80-pound bags and other equipment down the
intensely steep mountainsides.

Irrigation pipes were buried, and bushes and trees were cropped to conceal
the irrigation pipes and gardens, while still allowing in the sunlight to
grow these eight-foot plants.

It is unfortunate that these innovative workers did not put their energy
into legal businesses. They would have been very successful.

I am extremely proud of all the agencies involved in these operations. Once
these gardens were discovered, law enforcement worked diligently to
eradicate them. In addition to the officers on the ground, the CAMP
cooperative and Kern County Sheriff's Department utilized their helicopters
for investigative surveillance. Once a small landing area was cleared they
were used for transportation of personnel and equipment during the
destruction process.

As a law enforcement officer and citizen of Kern County, it was very
encouraging to see these plants cut and buried. While only one worker has
been arrested to date, there is a drug lord somewhere who must be extremely
upset about his loss of revenue.

On the more human side, the amount of personal tragedy associated with the
marijuana marketed from these gardens can only be imagined. The citizens of
Kern County have my commitment and that of the agencies involved in these
operations that we will continue our efforts to locate and destroy these
cultivations of marijuana in Kern County.

Carl Sparks is Kern County's Sheriff