$50 MILLION IN POT PLANTS SEIZED IN WEST MARIN

Authorities seized 20,000 marijuana plants valued at
an estimated $50 million Tuesday in West Marin in what could be the
largest pot bust in the county's history.

The raid came a month after 2,500 marijuana plants were seized from an
illegal plot on Bolinas Ridge. This week, investigators returned to
the area and confiscated about 20,000 more plants from several other
sites.

The marijuana groves were found along a swath of the Bolinas Ridge
from Kent Lake to Highway 1 to the Olema Valley.

Some of the sites were in federal parkland, while others were on Marin
Municipal Water District property.

No arrests were reported. Fifty rangers and police narrowly missed the
growers when they first raided the area on Monday.

"They left hot, steaming scrambled eggs on their dishes," said John
Dell'Osso, a spokesman for the National Park Service.

"They heard (police) coming through the brush and they took off in a
hurry."

The $50 million street value is based on an estimate of $2,500 per
plant when processed for sale. The estimate is conservative because
some plants are worth up to $5,000 in processed marijuana, Dell'Osso
said.

Dell'Osso said the bust is certainly the biggest on federal parkland
in Marin, and possibly the biggest ever in the county at large.

The investigation is continuing, and the number of plants could still
increase.