U.S. HONOR FOR CENTRAL VALLEY DRUG FIGHTERS

Efforts To Clear Pot Plantations From Sierra Parks Are Praised.

WASHINGTON - The White House has honored Central Valley drug fighters
for efforts to eradicate marijuana in a region that's become
increasingly popular with outlaw growers.

The Central Valley California High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, a
cooperative effort spanning the area from Sacramento to Bakersfield,
won three out of the 11 awards given nationwide by the White House
drug czar's office. In part, the awards recognize the Fresno-based
group's campaign to clear pot plantations away from Sierra Nevada
parks and forest.

"I don't care if these guys are growing freakin' potatoes," Bill
Ruzzamenti, executive director of the Central Valley HIDTA, said
Friday. "I don't want them growing anything in the national parks."

The three awards honored Central Valley officials for leading efforts
in "investigations involving surveillance, intelligence, informants,
wiretaps, search warrants and arrest teams." Their work, which
targeted what was described as a large, multistate drug-trafficking
network, led to the seizure of more than a million marijuana plants,
9,800 pounds of marijuana and other drugs, and 149 suspects involved
in drug-related operations.

The awards were presented in a low-key event hosted by the White
House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Since the Central
Valley chapter was founded in 1999, the group has received more
national awards than any HIDTA in the United States.

"I'm very proud," Ruzzamenti said. "It's a very fine commentary on
the great state, local and federal law enforcement partnership that
we've formed in the Central Valley to deal with the acute drug
problem we are faced with."

Ruzzamenti, who accepted the award on behalf of the Central Valley
group, said that in recent years the marijuana industry has
drastically expanded from mom-and-pop gardens to multibillion-dollar
marijuana plantations. These plantations, Ruzzamenti said, are
generally controlled by Mexican gangs and may be staffed by up to 150
men, many of them armed.

But the men in the field aren't the ones HIDTA is after. Ruzzamenti
said most of the field workers are Mexican nationals who are told
they'll be paid some amount of money and given a U.S. immigration
"green card" once the marijuana is harvested.

"They're just doing the bidding of the organization," Ruzzamenti said.

Marijuana plantations are particularly problematic on public land,
including national parks like Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon. The
marijuana plantations have been blamed for everything from poisoning
park land with fertilizers to damming up rivers for irrigation purposes.