BUSY POT WEEK FOR DRUG AGENTS

Drug agents raiding a remote garden in Eugene, in north Stanislaus County,
found 1,000 marijuana plants, a quarter of the 4,000 plants seized this week.

While agents did not make an arrest, they came close, said sheriff's Lt.
Raul DeLeon, commander of the Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency. Amid the
marijuana, agents found a makeshift camp, complete with lighted stove with
food cooking.

"Whoever was tending the pot garden either saw or heard us coming and they
took off," DeLeon said. "They left in a hurry and left beans and tortillas
cooking on the portable stove.

"We never saw anyone, but we followed a trail leading down to Little John
Creek and we found a loaded shotgun that someone dropped. But they got away."

The Thursday raid was one of several in the past week along rural rivers
and creeks in the county.

No arrests were made, he said, but agents seized more than 4,000 marijuana
plants with a total weight of 1,296 pounds, DeLeon said. He estimated the
street value at $5.1 million.

Agents destroyed the plants Thursday and Friday at the garbage-burning
plant on Fink Road.

Elimination efforts will continue, DeLeon said, including more aerial
surveillance along remote rivers and creeks.

"We started the eradication program early this year and the plants we found
were all 3 feet to 8 feet tall," DeLeon said. "Harvest season starts next
month, and if we would have waited, the plants would have been bigger."

Marijuana also was found along the Stanislaus River near Salida, and along
the San Joaquin River west of Patterson and Westley.

At the garden found Thursday near the community of Eugene, growers were
using a gas-

powered pump to draw water from the nearby creek, DeLeon said.

Growers were even more industrious at the garden along the Stanislaus
River. They dug a 10-foot deep well and used buckets to water some 500
plants, DeLeon said.