SHUT DOWN

Early morning raid reveals large-scale marijuana operation in dense
woods near Cantrall-Buckley Park

In the largest marijuana raid in Jackson County this year, officers
removed more than 7,000 plants from a complex of eight gardens in the
Applegate area Friday.

They expect to continue today removing plants from large scattered
growing operations in steep, rugged terrain in the hills south and
west of Cantrall-Buckley Park. The Jackson County Sheriff's Department
estimated the complex had at least 10,000 plants, most of which were 6
to 12 feet tall.

"These are large, cartel-type grows," Jackson County Sheriff Mike
Winters said. "They are testing law enforcement to see if we will
allow them to take root, and we won't."

The Drug Enforcement Administration, which led today's efforts, said
these groves appear to be part of a multistate growing operation
controlled by a single family, though details were not available
because of an ongoing investigation. No arrests were made Friday.

A multiagency force of about 220 officers from 11 agencies swept in
early Friday morning from a base camp in Ruch, targeting four gardens
police had watched for weeks.

A Bureau of Land Management law enforcement officer spotted suspicious
activity in the forest and helicopter searches uncovered four groves,
irrigated by water lines strung from a stream, where small dams had
been built, Winters said.

"If you don't know what you're looking for, you can't see them, but
once you know, these are just like row crops," helicopter pilot Randy
Jones said.

The groves grew tucked away on steep hills beneath a mix of tall
timber, old oak and reforested areas, he said.

After SWAT teams from Jackson, Josephine, Siskiyou and Douglas county
sheriff's offices, Klamath Falls city police department and Oregon
State Police secured the gardens, searching helicopters found four
additional groves, officials said.

Initial reports of someone seen running through the hills as teams
swept in led to a jogger, Jackson County Sheriff's Capt. Rod
Countryman said. Reports of shots fired in the Applegate area around 9
a.m. grounded search helicopters briefly until officials determined
the blasts were from Valley View Winery's attempts to scare birds from
its vineyards, Countryman said.

When each garden was secure, two teams of DEA agents moved in to
collect evidence, including plant samples. Then teams of deputies and
troopers followed to pull out the plants, some of which had stems an
inch in diameter and sizable root wads in the hard, reddish soil.

At one garden off Cantrall Road, illegal gardeners had cut brush and
small trees to make room for row upon row of marijuana planted in
clusters of several plants.

Some plants had been harvested before law enforcement arrived and
their stubby stems were already sprouting new buds. The camp at that
grove included large drying racks made by stretching landscape cloth
over a frame of manzanita sticks. Sleeping bags were stashed beneath
the racks and mounds of dried stems piled up at the end of each rack.

A pair of socks hung to dry, while others lay in the dirt along with a
single Nike Air tennis shoe. A shopping bag from a Supermercado with
four locations in Oakland lay next to one from Wal-Mart.

A short way down the hill, a makeshift kitchen included a propane
grill and bags of garbage indicating a diet of eggs, tortillas and Top
Ramen. A fresh packet of Oscar Mayer sliced ham glistened in the dirt,
flies circling.

Officers found weapons and ammunition at most of the camps, known as
"hooches," Friday, Countryman said, although a list of weapons
reportedly seized wasn't available.

The plants were bundled with ropes and nets, then lifted by
helicopters into dump trucks. The trucks hauled the plants to an
approved disposal location, where they were buried, Winters said.

Planning for the raid took several weeks, said Salem-based OSP Capt.
Jerry Gregg, who commands the state police's special operations
division, including SWAT and mobile response teams at work on the raid
Friday. OSP had about 50 officers there.

"This is running smoothly," he said. "Everybody knows their role and
how to interact."

He said the only other raid of this size and scope in Oregon was one
in Malheur County last year.

"It truly has to be interagency or you don't have enough resources to
deal with it," Gregg said.

Winters said the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department has served as a
mentor in training local authorities to deal with large growing
operations. Siskiyou County has battled large grows, believed to be
linked to cartels, for years, he said.

"We are getting better at finding and working them" said a DEA agent
who declined to be identified to protect his undercover work. "We are
coordinating efforts."

Using informants and undercover officers, the DEA has pegged local
marijuana prices at about $3,450 a pound for dealers and $5,000 or
more a pound for retail buyers on the street, Winters said.

Each of the large mature plants seized Friday would have produced at
least a pound, making the seizure worth $35 million to $50 million,
officials said.

"We are definitely taking money from someone's pocket," Winters
said.

Agencies participating in Friday's raid included Jackson, Josephine,
Siskiyou and Douglas county sheriff's offices, Klamath Falls police,
the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service, the Oregon State
Police, the DEA and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.