MARIJUNA HAUL, AMONG LARGEST EVER IN CALIFORNIA, VALUED AT $500 MILLION

SPRINGVILLE, Calif. (AP) --Marijuana plants with an estimated street value
of $500 million have been destroyed in the Sierra Nevada foothills, most of
it in the Sequoia National Forest, officials said on Friday.

More than 100,000 marijuana plants were found in harvesting that began in
October and was carried out by Tulare County Sheriff's deputies and other
law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service and the
National Guard. About 80 plots were found, said Tulare County Sheriff's Lt.
Greg Wright, describing the operation as yielding "high-quality marijuana."

"This is a little more involved than just some guy who went out to grow a
few marijuana plants," he said.

A total of seven people have been arrested so far, he said. The suspects
lived in the remote planting area about 240 miles southeast of San Francisco.

"They did the whole operation, including bagging it," Wright said.

Some of the workers were illegal immigrants smuggled from Mexico who were
forced to harvest the plots to pay off debts owed to the smugglers,
authorities said.

The haul apparently ranked among the largest in California history.

State officials announced in October that about a quarter-million marijuana
plants worth an estimated $1 billion wholesale were seized this year,
nearly double last year's tally. The figure was far higher than the
previous record set in 1985, when authorities confiscated more than 166,000
plants.