RAIDS PLAGUE DRUG CARTELS IN NEARBY MOUNTAIN FORESTS

Risk: Officers Face Danger Every Day.

SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN -- A coordinated attack on illegal marijuana growers
operating in nearby national forests is in full swing with today's
large-scale raid on Sugarloaf Mountain.

And with nearly 90 grow sites taken out thus far in Tulare County,
local, state and federal law enforcement officers are showing they
mean business.

"We've been planning this for about three or four years, trying to get
enough resources together at one time to really make an impact,"
Tulare County Sheriff Bill Wittman said, "not only to remove the
marijuana plants, but to take out the infrastructure."

Decked with a bulletproof vest, Wittman was lowered into the site by
helicopter to oversee progress there. The grow site is estimated at 30
acres containing between 15,000 to 20,000 cannabis plants with a
potential value of $80 million.

The site is a secluded patch of steep woodland located deep in the
heart of Sequoia National Forest and requires a grueling, one-to
two-hour hike to reach. As one approaches from ground level, the
bright green rows of cannabis plants are unmistakable.

Today's scene had 15 to 20 men from a variety of state- and
federal-funded organizations working to pull the plants and stack them
in bundles to be airlifted out by helicopter. Each time the
helicopters hovered close above ground, the rest of the crew hid
behind trees and waited out the hurricane of dirt and debris.

A complex system of irrigation hoses and plant support lines held up
by carving niches into the trees comprised four distinct plots of farm
land. The support lines brace the plants skyward to absorb maximum
sunlight and keep them from bending over. Officials estimate each
plant possesses a low-end street value of $4,000.

Lt. Mike Boudreaux, who leads Sheriff's Department's SWAT team, said
the operation goes far beyond the value of the plants alone.

"One thing to pay attention to is not the plant count, but the damage
to the land," Boudreaux said. "They cut into trees, they damage the
streams and they damage the landscape itself. This looks like some
type of drug-trafficking organization and unfortunately, they knew
what they were doing."

Other agencies involved in Thursday's raid include the California
Department of Fish and Game and the California National Guard. Four
other sites were also raided across the county today.

Mike Conely, a warden from the Department of Fish and Game where he's
labored for 15 years, checked whether pesticides and fertilizers
polluted the streams.

"Our biggest priority is the impact on the environment and the
poaching that goes on here," Conely said. "The reclamation teams are
removing the drip line and we're taking the plastic out of the creeks."

Sheriff's Department Sgt. Chris Douglass said this is the middle phase
of Operation LOCCUST -- Locating Organized Cannabis Cultivators Using
Saturation Tactics -- and represents the operation phase.

Phase One, initiated in November, included the planning, taking aerial
photographs of grow sites and plotting the trails to enter. Phase
Three, or the reclamation phase, has already begun as teams work to
return raided grow sites back to their original states and will
continue indefinitely.

"There are five teams in LOCCUST and four of them are dedicated to the
eradication process," Douglass said. "Only one team is devoted to the
reclamation process. Phase Three also includes the prosecution phases
and we still have prevention and education and awareness phases."

Since Phase Two began, the operation has yielded some 420,000 plants
in Tulare County, already well past the 330,884 gathered in all of
2007, which is more than any other state produced except Kentucky.

"It's taking 14 various agencies -- state, federal and local --- to do
this," Wittman said. "We can't do this by ourselves. You don't know
how dangerous it is for these guys. They do this every day; they hike
in or they come in through the helicopters."

Some 20 yards from the garden, agents found several tents surrounded
by clutter of half-eaten food, garbage, pots and pans, and dried meat
hanging on a clothesline draped by a mosquito net.

The inhabitants were not found, though it is possible the Sheriff's
Department discovered some form of identification left behind.

They declined to comment on the suspect's identity.

Wittman said the dangers of raiding marijuana farms increases because
most of the cultivators carry firearms.

"Out of the 36 arrests we made this last week, we've confiscated 27
firearms," Wittman said. "One of our deputies had a shotgun pointed at
him. He fired off three or four rounds and the suspect immediately
dropped the gun and surrendered."

Boudreaux said those in jail could face severe penalties if
prosecuted. Should the cases reach federal courts, suspects can expect
to face 10 to 20 years in prison for cultivating on national forest
grounds.

Local charges can imprison suspects anywhere from three to seven
years, depending on the suspect's level of participation.

"Most (cultivators) are illegal aliens," Boudreaux said, "but there
are some people who have recently become legal residents in
California, so it's a combination of both."

By Wednesday, LOCCUST had laid hold of plants worth more than $1.4
billion, authorities report. Tulare County typically ranks among the
top five counties in California and is currently No. 2 behind Lake
County for most plants seized.

"You could take California's top three or four staples combined and
they don't exceed marijuana's production," California National Guard
officer Tim Kelley said.

Kelley works for the Counter-drug Task Force.

Wittman said he hopes this operation will stymie the state's recent
infusion of drug cartels and profiteers, though he admits it may never
end.

"They'll come back," Wittman said. "And we'll come back, too. We'll
develop all the resources we can to come back. We cannot give up one
acre of our parks, so we're gonna fight this thing."