AS BIG BUSTS SHOW, MARIJUANA GROWERS BECOMING MORE DARING, AMBITIOUS

Marijuana producers appear to be becoming more ambitious about the
size of their crops - and planting them in public.

As marijuana farms expand into multimillion-dollar businesses,
authorities say the perpetrators are more likely to confront intruders
with violence.

"That's the alarming part," said Oconto County Sheriff Mike Jansen,
whose department in June 2008 dismantled a marijuana farm with 9,000
plants in Nicolet National Forest in the town of Riverview.

A hunter tipped off police after stumbling upon the illicit crop and
two caretakers who were never captured.

It happened again last month in Shawano County.

A visitor to the state-owned Navarino Wildlife Area spotted a
marijuana farm that included 8,000 plants, some of which had grown
more than 6 feet tall.

Capt. Tom Tuma of the Shawano County Sheriff's Department said his
office is taking steps to caution people about the potential risks of
civilians investigating marijuana crops on their own.

Although no one has been arrested in connection with the Navarino
operation, Tuma suspects it was the work of experienced drug dealers
from outside the area. In addition to the bountiful crop, the compound
included living quarters, irrigation systems, and work areas that were
meticulously camouflaged.

"These folks are practiced," Tuma said. "We're not talking about local
growers.

"We are looking at organized criminal activity."

Police believe sophisticated marijuana dealers have moved into
Wisconsin in the past couple of years with large-scale outdoor growing
operations of the sort more commonly associated with California and
other western states.

David Spakowicz, director of criminal field operations for the state
Department of Justice, said the perpetrators have staked out remote
public sites, such as large parks, in an effort to avoid detection and
accountability.

He also believes outsiders are responsible for many of the largest
farms and added that drug dealers typically will select a site and
then pay a couple of employees to tend the crop from spring until fall.

With each plant generally yielding a pound of marijuana worth $1,000
or more on the street, an operation like the one found in Navarino
easily can be worth millions of dollars.

Wisconsin is not the only Midwestern state being targeted for
marijuana growing in recent years, Spakowicz said.

"This is part of a national trend," he said. "And it hit us pretty
hard last year and this year."

According to state statistics, the number of outdoor marijuana plants
eradicated state-wide jumped from fewer than 10,000 a year to more
than 36,000 last year and 17,000 this year before the Navarino
operation was uncovered.

Investigators said the Navarino enterprise was among the most
sophisticated they have ever seen.

Before planting the crop, the unknown perpetrators cleared large areas
of trees and used some of the timber to erect tents and tarps for
living quarters and processing areas.

Marijuana was found growing in several locations within the estimated
15,000-acre wildlife refuge, which is maintained by the state
Department of Natural Resources.

Kay Brockman-Mederas, senior wildlife biologist for the DNR, said
state employees unknowingly did routine maintenance work near the
marijuana farm all summer long.

She expressed relief that no employees accidentally encountered the
illicit farmers.

"It's just incredible," she said. "It's pretty amazing that that was
happening under our noses."

Brown County has not been immune to the problem.

In September 2008, police uncovered more than 400 marijuana plants
growing on private property adjacent to the Izaak Walton League
conservation site in Bellevue.

Volunteers from the private conservation group alerted police after
becoming suspicious about men roaming the area at strange hours.

Octavio Ramirez, 25, of Bellevue, was eventually convicted and
sentenced to three years in prison on felony drug charges stemming
from the operation.

Chief Deputy John Gossage of the Brown County Sheriff's Department
said even though it was relatively small at 400 plants, it was likely
the county's largest outdoor marijuana farm ever uncovered.

With more open space in outlying areas like Shawano County, Gossage
said, "It's easier to grow in a rural area and not draw attention."

Shawano County officials last year found about 7,000 marijuana plants
growing on private property south of Gresham in the town of Herman.

A suspect was arrested in that case, but he was deported to Mexico
before facing charges here.

Tuma said officials are convinced that although the plants are gone
for now, whatever criminal element has brought large marijuana farms
to the area has not been eradicated.

"It's a growing problem," he said. "You're going to hear more about
it."