BUMPER CROP OF POT TARGETED

Fresno County hills give up 43,000 plants worth $90m.

Tucked away in the remote areas of the Sierra National Forest, hiding in
the branches of the manzanitas, a bumper crop of marijuana is being
meticulously grown and nurtured.

But harvest came a little early for some of this pot crop, as members of
the Fresno County Narcotics Enforcement Team and U.S. Forest Service have
spent the past several weeks chopping down a county-record 43,000 plants -
worth an estimated $90 million.

"It's been a great year for us, not too good for the crooks," said Lt. Ron
Wiley, head of the narcotics team, which found another 600 plants Thursday.

The number of plants chopped down this year dwarfs last year's statistic of
6,400 plants. Much of this year's seized plants came from the mountainous
areas of the county, where growers appear to be setting up shop in
increasing numbers.

Even with those high numbers, U.S. Forest Service special agent Bob
Hernandez figured the growers had already dried and removed about half
their crop. The pot harvest season is waning as fall temperatures drop.

Wiley agreed that their haul makes only a dent in the bigger drug picture.
He estimated that the 43,000 plants probably represent only 20% of the
marijuana being grown in Fresno County.

Based on that estimate, the total value of marijuana grown in the county
would rank among its top three crops, alongside grapes and cotton.

"This was just an exceptional year," Wiley said. "They had a lot more water
up here, a lot of opportunity to grow. It's something else we can blame on
El Nino."

Eagle-eye helicopter pilots and drug agents have been trained at marijuana
observation schools to spot the concealed gardens.

"You gotta know what you're looking for," Wiley said.

Although the agents get tips from hikers and hunters, the gardens chopped
down Thursday were a good trek beyond any dirt trail.

Twenty-three officers took part in the raid. After officers cleared a
landing zone for their helicopters, a SWAT team moved in and searched the
site for suspects (no one was found). Then the narcotics agents pushed
through brush to forge their own paths to the marijuana gardens.

"The growers don't use the same trail twice," Wiley said. "Two weeks ago,
we spent five hours looking for the garden."

Growers are becoming more sophisticated, officials said. A few years ago,
they would plant their marijuana in rows clearly visible from the sky.

Now, gardens are smaller, camouflaged under tree lines. And they are tended
with expertise. Around the marijuana patches on the rugged terrain, growers
had set down hundreds of yards of rubber hose in a sophisticated
drip-irrigation system that fed water individually to each plant.

Fertilizer bags littered the mountainside. Leaves had been pruned, allowing
room for virtually entire stems of buds to grow. Wiley estimated that each
plant could yield $2,000.

"It's an amazing amount of work they go through," he said.

Officers quickly hacked through the marijuana plants and destroyed the
irrigation system. They loaded the plants onto nets, which were lifted away
by helicopter. The pot was burned at another location.

One of the most recent developments in marijuana growing is that growers
set up camp near their scattered gardens, living in the hills for three to
four months, Wiley and Hernandez said.

When narcotics officers swooped into the Haslett Basin area Thursday, they
found a campsite but no suspects. The camp was equipped with a makeshift
tent and stocked with bags of groceries such as tortillas, Top Ramen and
vegetables.

Elsewhere in the Valley, other law enforcement agencies also have been
cracking down.

In Madera County, the Sheriff's Department narcotics enforcement team
seized 7,333 marijuana plants outdoors and 521 plants indoors between Jan.
1 and Aug. 31, Lt. Frank Benard said.

In July, deputies pulled up 7,000 plants in one bust along the Fresno River
and near Road 31 east of Madera.

Five people who allegedly tended the gardens were arrested, Benard said.

In Tulare County, sheriff's narcotics officers have seized about 1,000
plants so far this year, authorities said.

Bee staff writer Pablo Lopez contributed to this report.