AGENTS DESTROY MARIJUANA CROP

Narcotics agents have destroyed the region's second
multimillion-dollar marijuana crop in two weeks, officials said.

More than 5,000 marijuana plants, with an estimated street value of $2
million, were destroyed Wednesday by the Tuolumne Narcotics Team and
law enforcement officers from the U.S. Forest Service, according to
Tuolumne Narcotics Team Commander Sgt. Scott Johnson.

Officials found the marijuana garden outside Tuolumne City in the
Cottonwood area of the Stanislaus National Forest. They have no
suspects and will continue to investigate.

Because of trash left at the site and the style of planting, Lt. Dan
Bressler of the Tuolumne County Sheriff's Office said the crop was
likely a product of a Mexican drug trafficking organization.

In June, neighboring Calaveras County sheriff's deputies removed more
than 3,600 immature marijuana plants from a site in Glencoe. The crop
could have been worth more than $9 million once mature, sheriff's
officials said.