CARTELS READY TO DEFEND THEIR CROPS

The Money Is Too Good to Be Dissuaded by Losses

Law enforcement agents and volunteers dodged a bullet two weeks ago. Literally.

Hiking into a dense area of national forest land in North Fork near
Central Camp, a team of about 15 camouflaged agents prepared for a
scene now common to them, but nerve-racking still.

First to enter is the SWAT unit, heading to secure an area suspected
of having a cannabis plantation.

Everyone is told to turn off noise-making devises and keep voices
low. Crouching, volunteers wait several feet back.

Sporadic traffic on the back road is a distant sound, but a truck,
honking twice, makes two passes.

In a burst of sound, a man runs past, shouting in Spanish, the thick
brush providing him cover enough to escape.

Despite frustration, agents continue to clear the area and crews make
their way in for another eradication.

A black hose leads to an intricate drip system embedded in an
emerging field, cannabis glowing lime green in the sunlight filtered
by manzanita pruned to provide a canopy.

To the left under an alcove of trees is a campsite littered with
clothing, fertilizer, rat poison, tortillas, menudo -- and porn.

This scene is played out every year from May through October. The
presence of Mexican drug cartels in California is not new. Dating
back to at least the early 1990s, the cartels moved onto national
forests, where the weather and soil is ideal, and production is close
to consumers.

With the tightening of borders post 9/11, this illegal growth
burgeoned and today local law enforcement consider it the most
critical of illegal activity in the area.

Harvest Time

Late in the afternoon, following the raid, Madera County Sheriff John
Anderson stood on a ranger station helipad having just completed a
series of tactical airborne operations. There, he reiterated his
commitment to illegal drug eradication in the county.

"We don't have a crime problem in Madera County," he said. "I've
worked in large cities and they have crime problems. We have a drug
problem and it relates to things like domestic violence or petty theft.

"It destroys lives and it destroys communities if you let it go."

"I don't like to have to spend a lot of time and energy on this or
put our agents in danger, but it's a problem and one which leads to
even more serious problems."

For the time being, Anderson's focus is on danger to tourists,
hunters and just about anyone seeking to enjoy public land. Even
property owners are not exempt -- an area resident was confronted
early this season by an armed grower on his land. Two police officers
were involved in a shootout on national forest land as well.

Now -- September through October -- is a critical time for growers as
they prepare to harvest and process their crops. With more at stake
at the end of the growing season, which leaves little opportunity to
recover any loss, and profit within reach, growers are ever more
ready to defend their turf, Anderson said.

"They've worked all year to produce this crop that is worth hundreds
of thousands of dollars and they can't start over," he said. "So if
we get it now, they've lost their year's work and they'll go to
greater lengths to protect it."

Erica Stuart, public information officer for Madera County Sheriff's
Department, reiterated the sheriff's caution to the community.

"The Mexican cartel is going to destroy anything in their way; that's
you and plants or animals that inhabit the foothills and forest
land," she said.

The danger from growers lies in the chain of command of the cartel.
Officials say growers are on the bottom rung and often know little
beyond their agricultural piece of the puzzle. More disturbing,
Anderson said, it that abuse of growers is common.

He told of a grower arrested during a recent raid who revealed to
investigators he was lured to the U.S. to pick fruit. Once over the
border, he was forcibly brought to a marijuana garden and blackmailed
to tend the plants with threats that his family's safety was at stake.

Often growers are desperate to protect the crop, which for them bears
a high price. This deadly combination means locals and tourists need
to be on alert.

Furthermore, said Stuart, growers have many misconceptions about law enforcers.

"Growers are given a grisly portrait of law enforcement and
sometimes, towards the end of the season, cartel henchmen, posing as
law enforcement, chase the growers out, leaving them without their
promised payment," she said. "These guys are absolutely ruthless."

More THC

Another disturbing and dangerous trend has emerged among growers.
Cannabis plants are being "sexed," meaning male plants are eliminated
from gardens. With only females in a field, the result is an
unpollinated plant. That, in turn, increases
delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (or THC) levels because after
pollination, THC levels decrease. THC produced by female plants
attracts pollination. In the lack of a male plant to pollinate,
female plants continue to produce the chemical at high levels.

THC is the primary active chemical in cannabis and its effects are
addictive to users.

"This stuff is not the pot we used to encounter in the 1960s," said
Anderson, "Those guys were smoking the stalk and whatever. Now it is
more sophisticated; smoking the buds only means higher potency.

"It's like the difference between drinking eight ounces of beer
versus eight ounces of whiskey."

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, increasing THC
means increasing the addictive nature. And that, in turn, results in
a higher risk for side effects such as mental health problems,
increased risk of heart attack and lung cancer.

Studies have shown that the presence of carcinogens is 50 to 70
percent higher in marijuana than tobacco smoke.

And Anderson has seen, firsthand, the effects of the increase in the
plant's addictive nature.

"It used to be that pot smokers were very docile," he said. "But I
think now that levels of THC have increased, users are more violent
and prone to fight."

The increase also means the cartels are cashing in on drug use in two
ways. In approximately 10 years, the monetary value of a single
cannabis plant has risen from around $1,000 per plant (which equals
one pound of processed drug) to $4,000.

And the addictive chemical keeps buyers coming back.

Anderson said the increased potency of the drug is driving more users
into other drugs quickly.

"People might be critical of how much money is spent on eradication,
but marijuana is a gateway drug. People rarely go out and start with
hard drugs," said Anderson. "They get into the hard stuff through the
marijuana culture and that leads to the harder stuff. They get into a
drug lifestyle.

"If we can cut it off, we might be helping to keep people away from that."

The most common form of marijuana is cannabis sativa. A mixture of
dried elements of the plant (the bud being the most potent),
marijuana is most often smoked as a cigarette (joint), in a pipe or bong.

All forms of cannabis are psychoactive, or mind-altering. Short-term
effects include impaired memory, judgment, learning, distorted
perception, loss of coordination, increased heart rate and anxiety.
The smoke inhaled results in many of the same side effects as
traditional cigarettes.

The primary active chemical is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol),
identified as a sticky substance on the plant.

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THE HIGH COST OF CANNABIS

Part two, the Sierra Star explores the destructive nature of
marijuana growing in Eastern Madera County:

Part III: The severe impact of local ecology

Part IV: The cleanup effort