SHERIFF'S RAID NETS $7.5M IN POT

Officers Whack Their Way Through San Joaquin River Brush To Marijuana Gardens.

Fresno and Madera county drug teams Wednesday raided 15 illegal marijuana
gardens along the San Joaquin River, hauling in more than $7.5 million in loot.

The sheriff's narcotics enforcement team gathered Wednesday morning, garbed
head to toe in camouflage fatigues and armed with machetelike weapons.

They ditched their action plan early -- a boat ride down the river -- and
instead whacked their way through brush and trees to find the pot because
the water was too shallow.

"We'll go the old fashioned way -- over a bridge," said Lt. Robert Hagler,
rallying his troops who marched with pruning shears and axes in hand, as if
headed off to battle.

"We will fight marijuana growers on the land, in the air and on the water."

By day's end, the team hit gardens in Friant, Firebaugh and Mendota,
seizing 3,000 plants.

"People would be amazed. They commute right past this every day on Highway
41," Hagler said

Wednesday's joint operation with the Madera County Narcotics Enforcement
Team netted what sheriff's officials believe is just the beginning of
another bumper crop of marijuana. Last year, they seized 66,000 plants. So
far this year they've totalled more than 9,000 plants.

"It will go up by the tens of thousands in the next two months," Hagler
promised.

Without the boat Wednesday morning, the narcotics team relied on the
sheriff's Eagle-1 helicopter to spot marijuana from above.

"Spotters" undergo specialized training in aerial observation and lead
detectives on the ground.

"It's got a real distinct look," Sgt. Rick Pursell said. Some even say it
looks like the Emerald Forest because the green leaves are so bright.

The plants grow as high as 10 to 12 feet and are planted well off the path.
The suspects cleared out small patches of land, chopping down trees, brush
and blackberry bushes.

"These are well-tended, manicured gardens," Hagler said.

Though no suspects were there when sheriff's officials arrived, detectives
found some of the plants recently watered. They also found shovels, hoes
and fertilizer.

Near the river the marijuana farmers dug large holes so deep they hit
water, allowing easy access for suspects tending their gardens.

To reach the pot, detectives -- who normally work on the streets conducting
undercover drug buys -- had to hike through barbed wire fences, over fallen
trees and through prickly blackberry bushes.

"Start whacking. Keep your plant count," Pursell told the team. When all
the plants had been leveled, detectives bundled them up and hauled them out
to their trucks. The marijuana will be destroyed.

"I love this," detective John Avila said. "I look forward to it every
season: hiking, working together as a unit, trying to get in through the
bushes. ... It's like an easter egg hunt. They hide the eggs. We try to
find it."