MEXICO TROOPS FIND HYBRID MARIJUANA PLANT

Soldiers trying to seize control of one Mexico's top drug-producing
regions found the countryside teeming with a new hybrid marijuana
plant that can be cultivated year-round and cannot be killed with pesticides.

Soldiers fanned out across some of the new fields Tuesday, pulling up
plants by the root and burning them, as helicopter gunships clattered
overhead to give them cover from a raging drug war in the western
state of Michoacan. The plants' roots survive if they are doused with
herbicide, said army Gen. Manuel Garcia.

"These plants have been genetically improved," he told a handful of
journalists allowed to accompany soldiers on a daylong raid of some
70 marijuana fields. "Before we could cut the plant and destroy it,
but this plant will come back to life unless it's taken out by the roots."

The new plants, known as "Colombians," mature in about two months and
can be planted at any time of year, meaning authorities will no
longer be able to time raids to coincide with twice-yearly harvests.

The hybrid first appeared in Mexico two years ago but has become the
plant of choice for drug traffickers Michoacan, a remote mountainous
region that lends to itself to drug production.

Yields are so high that traffickers can now produce as much marijuana
on a plot the size of a football field as they used to harvest in 10
to 12 acres. That makes for smaller, harder-to-detect fields, though
some discovered Tuesday had sophisticated irrigation systems with
sprinklers, pumps and thousands of yards of tubing.

"For each 100 (marijuana plots) that you spot from the air, there are
300 to 500 more that you discover once you get on the ground," Garcia said.

The raids were part of President Felipe Calderon's new offensive to
restore order in his home state of Michoacan and fight drug violence
that has claimed more than 2,000 lives in Mexico this year.

In Michoacan, officials say the Valencia and Gulf cartels have been
battling over lucrative marijuana plantations and smuggling routes
for cocaine and methamphetamine to the United States. In one
incident, gunmen stormed into a bar and dumped five human heads on
the dance floor.

The president, who took office Dec. 1, sent 7,000 soldiers and
federal officers to Michoacan last week.

Officials have arrested 45 people, including several suspected
leaders of the feuding cartels. They also seized three yachts, 2.2
pounds of gold, bulletproof vests, military equipment and shirts with
federal and municipal police logos. More than 18,000 people have been
searched, along with 8,000 vehicles and numerous foreign and national boats.

"We are determined to shut down delinquency and stop crime in Mexico
because it is endangering the lives of all Mexicans, of our
families," Calderon said, calling the operation a "success" so far.

In the past week, soldiers and federal police have found 1,795
marijuana fields covering 585 acres in Michoacan, security officials said.

Officials estimate the raids could cost the cartels up to $626
million, counting the value of plants that have been destroyed and
drugs that could have been produced with seized opium poppies and
marijuana seeds.

On Sunday, federal authorities announced the capture of suspected
drug lord Elias Valencia, the most significant arrest since the
operation began.

Calderon's predecessor, Vicente Fox, started out with enthusiastic
U.S. applause for his own fight against drug trafficking. U.S.
officials called the arrest of drug bosses early in his six-year term
unprecedented, while Fox boasted that his administration had
destroyed 43,900 acres of marijuana and poppy plantations in its
first six months and more than tripled drug seizures.

Yet drug violence has spiked across the country in recent years, with
gangs fighting over control of routes following the arrest of drug
lords, authorities say.

Mexico has also continued to struggle with corruption among its law
enforcement ranks. Garcia said authorities did not tell soldiers
where they were being sent on raids and banned the use of cell phones
and radios.