YUBA-SUTTER POT BUSTS NOSEDIVE

Marijuana Seizures Soar in State, Sour Locally

Marijuana seizures nearly doubled this year in California, setting a
record, but shriveled in Yuba and Sutter counties.

While Yuba-Sutter law enforcement officials normally can be found
posing with piles of confiscated pot, this year a mere 1,001 plants
were seized in rural areas, according to Mike Hudson, the new
commander of the Yuba-Sutter Narcotic Enforcement Team, or NET-5.

All of the 1,001 plants, described as low-quality or "just crappy" by
one law enforcement official, came from a seizure near Robbins in
September. The growers had fled and no one was arrested.

That compares with 21,846 plants seized in 2006, said Hudson, who
took over Nov. 1.

Statewide, almost 3 million plants were seized, a record and almost
double the previous record of 1.7 million in 2006.

Officials cited no large seizures in the foothills of Yuba County, a
traditional growing area.

Yuba County Sheriff Steve Durfor said his department's own marijuana
eradication team seized 85 plants and about 15 pounds of processed
marijuana but, unlike previous years, did not find gardens with
plants numbering in the thousands.

"I don't know that (large gardens) have necessarily disappeared," said Durfor.

Personnel turnover at NET-5 was one reason for the local dropoff in
seizures, said Hudson, the agency's third commander this year.

Long-time Commander Bill Olson left earlier this year and was
replaced by an interim commander until Hudson took over.

NET-5 commanders are employees of the state Bureau of Narcotic
Enforcement Team, members of which are on loan from five area law
enforcement agencies.

Another reason for the decline, Hudson said, is that the state
Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, which beefs up local pot-finding
efforts, switched its focus this year to Shasta County.

Shasta, Lake, Humboldt, Mendocino and Tulare are considered the top
growing areas in the state.

Sutter County Undersheriff J. Paul Parker said his department, in
cooperation with NET-5, has done flyovers of the Sutter Bypass and
other areas where large pot fields have been found in the past. The
chances that any large fields went unnoticed this year are "pretty
remote," he said.

The concern remains that someone will stumble on a field being
protected by booby traps and armed guards, he said.

In Colusa County, Lt. Doug Turner of the Sheriff's Department said
about 17,000 plants were destroyed this year, compared to a record
40,000 the previous year.

Reconnaissance flights early this year indicated 60,000 or more
plants might be seized, particularly from foothills in western Colusa
County where marijuana activity is "crazy," said Turner. But growers
took advantage of an early spring to plant early and harvest early,
sometimes as early as April, and plants were cut and removed earlier
than expected, he said.

A drought later in the year killed other plants.

"We don't cut dead plants," said Turner.

Almost all the plants seized in recent years were grown by a "heavy
influx" of Mexicans. There have been no confrontations between
growers and locals stumbling on hidden gardens, he said.

"It's crazy," said Turner. "We do what we can."

Parker suggested that one reason seizures are off this year is "straw
houses" in Sacramento County -- houses purchased specifically for
indoor marijuana growing. Growers may need fewer outdoor gardens in
areas like Sutter County, he said.

Durfor said flyovers by his department revealed 60 medical marijuana
gardens, all of which proved legal.

Incidents in which thieves raid legal pot gardens are on the rise in
Yuba-Sutter.