$16M IN MARIJUANA PLANTS SEIZED AMONG GIANT SEQUOIAS

Authorities on Tuesday uprooted more than $16 million worth of marijuana
plants from a remote forest corridor within the boundaries of the Giant
Sequoia National Monument.

Drug officers found a group of budding plants nestled next to towering
sequoia trees near Freeman Creek Grove, which is about 35 miles east of
Porterville, Tulare County sheriff's Sgt. Marsh Carter said.

By Tuesday afternoon, officials from the Sheriff's Department, the U.S.
Forest Service and the state Department of Justice Campaign Against
Marijuana Planting program had seized about 4,000 plants, Carter said. Each
plant is valued at $4,000, Carter said.

"This is the first time in 10 years I've ever found marijuana in this
area," said Carter, head of the Sheriff's Tactical Enforcement Personnel
team. "We spend most of our energy in areas we know marijuana is being grown."

It's unusual to find marijuana at elevations of 6,000 feet to 6,500 feet,
because the growing season is short and nearby water sources dry up during
the summer months, Carter said.

The plants were hidden among other vegetation on a 5-square-mile plot.

A pack of bear hunters and their dogs found the garden early last week and
reported it to authorities. Since then, officers have scoured the area by
helicopter and foot in search of the plants.

Authorities are looking for the growers, who planted the marijuana in April
or May, Carter said.

"We are processing the crime scene right now for evidence, so hopefully
that will lead us to who the suspects might be," Carter said. "There's not
a lot of evidence up here. This appears to be the first year they've grown
in this area."