MENDOCINO POT CRACKDOWN

5 Homes Used for Growing Marijuana Raided After Neighbors Complain

Neighbors' complaints are fueling a crackdown on commercial marijuana
cultivation in Mendocino County, where authorities have raided five
houses in the past two days.

"People are getting fed up," said Sheriff's Lt. Rusty Noe.

On Wednesday, officers searched two Willits-area houses dedicated to
marijuana production, seizing 150 harvest-ready plants, 200 starter
plants and sophisticated growing equipment.

A couple walking their dogs past one of the homes Wednesday morning
smiled and quipped: "Going out of business sale?"

A day earlier officers seized 505 plants, $175,000, a boat, two
all-terrain vehicles and a Chevrolet truck at separate Redwood Valley
homes occupied by [redacted].

[redacted] was arrested on suspicion of cultivating and possessing
marijuana for sale, and his son also faces prosecution on
drug-related charges, Noe said. They could not be reached for comment
Wednesday.

An additional 660 plants were found at a home east of Willits on Tuesday.

Noe said Mendocino County residents have become increasingly angry
over the cultivation of pot for profit by people claiming it is for
compassionate medicinal marijuana use.

The stench of pot, armed drug dealers, barking dogs, noisy
generators, and soil and water contamination from fertilizers and
herbicides are among the complaints.

Willits City Councilwoman Karen Oslund said residents have been
emboldened to step forward by Measure B, an initiative on the June
ballot aimed at limiting the amount of medical marijuana individuals can grow.

"Maybe people realize: 'I'm not the only one who feels this way,' " she said.

Pro Measure B votes were leading on election night but mailed ballots
still were being counted Wednesday.

Measure B supporters blame liberal pot regulations for attracting
outsiders to the county to grow marijuana for profit under the
pretext of supplying it for compassionate medical use.

Wednesday's crackdown began at 8 a.m. with 20 law enforcement
officers from the Sheriff's Office, county Marijuana Eradication
Team, and Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force simultaneously
approaching the two Willits-area houses.

On Fox Road in Brooktrails, a forested subdivision just north of
Willits, they knocked and loudly announced themselves before forcing
open the door of a three-story structure.

"Nice house," Noe commented.

Inside, they found 49 mature plants in a brilliantly lighted room
saturated with the overwhelming skunklike stench of budding
marijuana. An elaborate ventilation system of fans and ducts kept the
room from overheating while an automatic irrigation system attached
to two 80-gallon tanks watered the plants.

South of Willits on Walker Road, authorities found 100 or so budding
plants, 200 starter plants and several "mother plants" that typically
are clipped to create new clones.

A new room was under construction in a warehouse-like building on the
property, which commands views of a pond and oak-studded hills near
Highway 101.

Indoor growing equipment was scattered around the property.

With marijuana selling at $2,500 or more a pound, the mature plants
found in the Brooktrails house -- 2-foot-tall budding clones -- would
be worth about $375,000. Indoor operations yield three crops a year, Noe said.

[redacted] bought the Brooktrails home in 2005 for about $394,000 and
the Walker Road property for about $275,000 in 2002, according to
county records.

[redacted] could not be reached for comment Wednesday. A call to his
home was answered by his adult son, [redacted], who said his father
was not home and then declined further comment.

Sonoma County authorities served a search warrant on his Petaluma
home Wednesday, Noe said. He said the case likely would be sent to
the district attorney for prosecution rather than executing an
immediate arrest.

Indoor marijuana operations proliferated after California voters
legalized the use of medicinal marijuana in 1996, Noe said.
Statistics on indoor marijuana gardens were unavailable.

Mendocino County's reputation for having liberal medical marijuana
rules further attracted people from outside the county, and sometimes
from outside the country, he said.

Buying houses gives operators a place to grow pot and a way to
launder their profits, Noe said.

Multiple medical marijuana prescriptions -- most listing Sonoma
County residents -- were posted inside the houses searched Wednesday
but Noe was unconvinced, based partly on the size of the operation.

"We're looking at a commercial grow," he said.