MARIJUANA CROP GETTING BIGGER

Illegal drug suppliers employing heavily armed workers are increasingly
using the 1.75 million-acre Los Padres National Forest for marijuana crops,
according to authorities.

Saying the planters include sophisticated Mexican drug cartels, a joint
task force of military, police and forest officials so far this year has
seized plants that would have been worth $21 million to $26 million in
street sales. This month authorities found 15,000 plants with a street
value of $17 million to $22 million in the Ventura County portion of the
forest.

"It certainly does seem to be a lot more growing up there," said Eric
Nishimoto, a spokesman for the Ventura County Sheriff's Department. "Over
time, we are seeing more sophistication in the methods used, which can
yield a much bigger crop. We're probably going to find even more.

"We're not talking about the old days where some potheads grew some plants
for their own use."

Battling this growing problem is the Ventura County combined agencies team,
formed in June 1999 by police officers, sheriff's deputies, probation
officers and personnel from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Agency and state
Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement Agency.

Plantings are often spotted during aerial reconnaissance missions by Army
and Marine pilots conducting training exercises.

By the September harvest season, plants are 4 to 12 feet tall, with the
average plant generating a pound of marijuana.

Depending on the potency of the tetrahydrocannabinol, the active
ingredients in marijuana, a pound can have a street value of $600 to
$5,000, authorities said.

The team suspects that Mexican drug cartels are involved because of the
sophisticated way in which the gardens are laid out and tended.

"It's in the way the plants are laid in rows, . . . consistent with the
natural vegetation of the area," said Cpl. Tim Turner of the Ventura Police
Department, a former member of the team. "From air, it's more difficult to
detect. It's also in the way they use the natural vegetation to conceal
their plants."

The recent seizures include 4,700 plants valued at $5 million from the Tule
Creek area, 1,300 plants valued at $2.25 million from the Potrero Seco area
and 4,000 plants valued at $4 million to $5 million from Matilija Canyon.

Authorities on Friday released details of the seizure of an estimated 5,000
plants from three separate locations in the Ventura County portion of Los
Padres, with a possible street value of $5 million to $10 million.

Rather than burning the seized marijuana as in years past, authorities now
bury the illegal drugs.

Authorities also have found irrigation pipes running to the cultivation
sites from natural water sources two to five miles from the nearest road or
dirt path. Campsites near the marijuana plants showed the growers had
carried in their food, clothing, ammunition and other supplies, and they
would have carried out the marijuana on their backs, authorities said.

None of the growers has been arrested. Apparently they always spot
authorities on their way in to seize the marijuana plants.

"Certainly they have lookouts," said Turner. "We've seen that in many of
the cases, where an area is designated to be a lookout position. When it's
laid out in the rim of the canyon, you can see who enters or leaves the canyon.

"(But) we're putting a large dent into their operations. We're continuing
to look for more growth sites as the investigations continue."

Forest officials are upset about environmental damage in addition to the
drug problem. Marijuana growers kill animals for food or to protect their
crop, cut away natural vegetation, litter and leave human waste.

"They are using the forest as a toilet," said Kathy Good, a U.S. Forest
Service spokeswoman. "Small birds and mammals are dying because they're
getting into the (pesticide) poisons that the growers are using.... They
are also presenting a fire hazard because they are using stoves and
campfires unsafely."