ILLICIT POT GARDENS BUD OUT ALL OVER

UKIAH, Calif. -- As the state prepares to launch its annual harvest
crackdown on marijuana growers, law enforcement agencies say more
illicit pot gardens than ever are being found.

The largest marijuana-growing operation found so far this year in
California was uncovered earlier this month near San Diego. Agents
uprooted 102,000 plants found growing on the slopes of Mount Palomar.

But it is Northern California's Mendocino County that is on track to
once again be the state's top pot producer.

Since January, 75,696 plants from mostly indoor growing operations
have been seized in Mendocino County, which routinely ranks along
with neighboring Humboldt and Trinity counties as the top three
pot-producing counties in the state. So much of the green, leafy
stuff is typically grown in the three-county region that it's long
been dubbed the "Emerald Triangle."

The marijuana black market in Northern California is estimated to
generate at least $1 billion a year for growers and sellers.

The state's anti-pot effort -- Campaign Against Marijuana Planting,
or CAMP -- pays for teams of additional local, state and federal
agents who move in over an eight-week period at harvest time to
assist local agents. The state also provides helicopters and other
equipment.

More than 200 dope-growing sites have been identified so far in
Mendocino County, and more are being uncovered every day, said
Sheriff's Sgt. Rusty Noe.

Noe, who leads the county's anti-marijuana efforts, said most of the
known sites are located on public lands or on corporate-owned
timberlands.

The Mendocino discoveries since January have included sophisticated
indoor growing operations camouflaged in structures designed on the
outside to look like new homes. Noe's unit in April also uncovered a
marijuana-growing operation inside five old shipping containers
buried 5 feet underground in a remote region near Covelo.

State authorities say the discovery in San Diego and the "fake house"
operations in Mendocino underscore the dominance of large, commercial
marijuana operations in today's underground pot economy.

"We're seeing huge gardens everywhere, even in places where,
traditionally, marijuana cultivation is unknown," said Mike Van
Winkle, a spokesman for the state's annual program. The state's 18th
year of beefing up local efforts during the marijuana harvest season
begins next week, and Van Winkle said early indications are that more
pot than ever is being grown.

"The street value is attracting big-time operators, mostly Mexican
drug cartels and gangs who continue to move into California," Van
Winkle said.