POT BOOBY TRAPS MAY BE ON RISE

During a drug bust in Pine Cove earlier this month, something caught Bill
Mumma's eye.

Razor blades and fishhooks were wired around the stalks of 19 marijuana plants.

"Down here in Southern California, booby traps aren't a common thing," said
Mumma, a special agent in the California Department of Justice's Bureau of
Narcotics Enforcement. "It's more common in Northern California, to harass
(law enforcement)."

Though narcotics officers don't keep statistics on the traps, many say the
devices are being used more often in marijuana fields and methamphetamine
labs. The booby traps are meant to protect against animals and people,
police and thieves. The devices range from simple tripwires that cause tin
cans to rattle as alarms, to shotguns hooked to wires, to explosives.

In addition to drug-related charges, those who set up traps could face
other penalties. According to the California Penal Code, anyone who builds
or places a booby trap is guilty of a felony punishable by two to five
years in prison.

"Razor blades and fishhooks will ruin your day, but punji pits and bear
traps . . . those can cause serious injury to an officer," Mumma said.

FIELD DANGERS

Just ask Ron Brovetto, special agent with the California Department of
Justice. Last month, during a marijuana bust in the Santa Barbara area, a
fellow agent trod on a camouflaged bear trap. The jaws shut on his boot heel.

Brovetto was right next to the man, who wasn't injured. If the trap had
been set a bit differently, it could have mangled his ankle, Brovetto said
by phone.

"It makes you more tactically aware of the area," he said. "It woke us up.
Reminded us anything goes in these gardens."

Brovetto said he has seen a rise in traps over the past few years. Four out
of five groves may have some trap, like tripwires, rat traps or bear traps
he said. Even marijuana growers need protection from crooks, Brovetto said.
He said that growers have been victimized by criminals posing as police
officers and stealing their marijuana.

Detective Robbie Ciolli said he hasn't run into a booby trap in three years
of service with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Narcotics, Marijuana
Eradication Team. There's more danger from growers with guns protecting
their pot, he said.

METH LAB METHODS

The danger doesn't stop with marijuana.

In cracking down on meth labs, Tony Ybarra, special agent commander with
the Allied Riverside Cities Narcotic Enforcement Team, has seen plenty of
defenses. Drug makers have used angry dogs, cheap sirens or firebomb traps
using electrical wire and gasoline.

It makes an already dangerous task worse, he said.

"You don't need booby traps for a meth lab," Ybarra said. "The whole thing
is a trap."

Ybarra also has seen an increase in booby traps. His team has had to call
the bomb squad three times in the past year, Ybarra said.

Val Jimenez, operations commander for the state's Campaign Against
Marijuana Planting, notes that not all traps are set for humans. Some are
meant to keep animals from trashing the crops.

Brovetto agreed. He said a trip-wire neck-or chest-high may deter a human,
but a wire or bear trap may be meant for a four-legged beast.

Jimenez has his own field story. He recalls a meth lab bust in the Fontana
area during the early 1990s in which a cyanide crystal was set up to fall
into sulphuric acid and emit poisonous gas.

"Anyone could trigger it. When we asked (the suspect) about it, it didn't
dawn on him . . . he could be in danger. It's a different kind of mind-set.
And these people aren't rocket scientists."