MARIJUANA FARM NEARLY INVISIBLE ON TERRACED O.C. MOUNTAIN SLOPE

Drugs: Sheriff's Deputies Hack Down 2,000 Plants Cultivated With An
Ingenious Irrigation System And Hidden By Trees On Remote, Nearly Vertical
Terrain.

To hear narcotics investigators tell it, whoever cultivated more than 2,000
marijuana plants in rugged Trabuco Canyon was part botanist, part
camouflage expert and part mountain goat.

Toiling for months on the plantation, the growers hiked up near-vertical
slopes in the Cleveland National Forest, hauling young seedlings and
irrigation hoses with them, then digging terraces into the canyon slopes to
sow their crops.

In a densely grown region populated by coyotes, rattlesnakes and quail, the
unknown planters knew enough to farm on the canyon's moist, shaded slopes,
not the sun-seared dry faces. They also planted the pot beneath trees so
their illegal plantation would remain nearly invisible from spying
helicopters. Dust was used to camouflage an ingenious irrigation system of
plastic tubing that drew water from tiny storm-water gullies and creeks.
The planters probably returned to the scene--a three-hour hike from the
nearest road--every other week. They punched small holes in the irrigation
hoses so they would drip water on the base of the plants, which were spaced
irregularly over several acres.

Orange County sheriff's deputies finished hacking down the 3- to
6-foot-high cannabis shoots Friday, describing the operation as the
county's biggest marijuana farm. While much larger plantations have been
found elsewhere in the state, investigators said this farm is significant
because marijuana is rarely grown in any quantity in Orange County.

They also conceded that they might never have uncovered the operation
without the help of an anonymous caller.

"If we hadn't gotten this tip, this field could have been there another 15
years," said John Fleischman, a spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's
Department. "You couldn't even tell it was there if you were right on top
of it in a helicopter. You could only see the plants that had grown so tall
that they were peeking through the trees."

While investigators marveled at the remoteness of the farm--narcotics
agents spent three hours hiking to it and even killed a rattlesnake they
stumbled upon--authorities said they were still perplexed about who planted
the marijuana. A closer inspection of the area may reveal clues.

"It's very difficult to determine who did this unless they left something
behind," said Capt. Kim Markuson of the sheriff's special investigations
division. "As we clear the field, we're looking for evidence like store
receipts for their equipment."

Investigators declined to say what motivated the anonymous caller, calling
such information part of their ongoing investigation. However, a Web site
operated by High Times, a magazine that writes about the drug culture,
offers this insight into how such caches are discovered: "Most often,
growers or dealers are not entrapped by a narc--they are informed on by a
suspicious neighbor, jealous spouse, angry 'friend,' or misguided
acquaintance."

Because the land is owned by the federal government, property records will
shed no light on the planter's identity.

On average, Orange County authorities raid one or two outdoor pot farms
each year. Usually, the raids yield anywhere from 500 to 1,000 plants.
Narcotics investigators said they had found 2,000 plants at the Trabuco
Canyon farm and were still counting. They estimated the street value at $3
million to $3.5 million.

"This particular farm is rather extensive," Markuson said. "If you're
standing at one end, you can't see to the other."

By late afternoon Friday, deputies had hauled out the first load of
harvested plants by helicopter--a mere dent in the pile. They then began
the tedious process of bagging the plants in paper evidence sacks and
loading them into a truck. Eventually the pot will be destroyed by burning,
an option that was not open to deputies Friday.

"There's no way we could have burned those plants in the field," Markuson
said. "We would have had a tremendous forest fire."