FATAL POT FARM RAID UNDERSCORES BATTLE BETWEEN DRUG CARTELS AND LAW
ENFORCEMENT

A fatal shooting by sheriff's deputies at a marijuana farm in the
eastern hills of Santa Clara County marked what could be the latest
encounter between authorities and a proliferation of large-scale
marijuana farming driven by the Mexican drug trade.

Before a raid Wednesday morning in the hills above Mines Road, three
deputies from the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office shot and killed
an armed man as they were scouting near a large marijuana farm,
sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Rick Sung said.

Deputies said the man, who was Latino, refused orders to drop his
rifle and pointed its muzzle at authorities, after which they opened
fire. He attempted to regain control of his weapon, at which point the
deputies fired a second round of shots, killing him, Sung said.

The farm in question contained about 20,000 marijuana plants with an
estimated street value of more than $60 million, and law enforcement
officials were still at the scene Thursday.

One local official said the size of the operation strongly suggests
that, rather than a local operation, the farm could be linked to
Mexican drug cartels that the law enforcement officials have said are
responsible for as many as nine out of 10 large-scale marijuana
growing operations in the country.

This trade has increased in the region since post-Sept. 11, 2001,
efforts to secure the United States' southern border, which encouraged
some drug organizations to move away from direct transport over the
border. Their operations have found a home in rural California,
including eastern Santa Clara County, which is largely undeveloped and
lightly populated.

Patrick Congdon, general manager of the Santa Clara County Open Space
Authority, has spent decades working in the area, and he says the
marijuana farm problem has grown precipitously in recent years.

"There's very few (rural) places to go in this county where you don't
find either the remains of a pot farm or an active farm," Congdon said.

He said he has found 25 or 30 farms by himself in the past 15 years,
and that such finds are becoming more common. He estimated that almost
all of the marijuana farms found in the area were connected to Mexican
drug cartels, and that of those sites, 90 percent had armed guards.

Drug operators have made use of public property, including state and
national parks, for the farms, as well as unmonitored private
property. In this instance, according to Sung, the site was private,
but the owner and the growers on the site had no connections.

While Sung would not confirm the involvement of large-scale drug
operators, he said authorities are looking into the matter.

"It is possible that there might be a link," he said.

The deputies who opened fire were Devin Fontana, an eight-year
veteran; Michael Damigo, an 11-year veteran; and Cregg Dibert, an
11-year veteran, according to Sung.

The last fatal shooting involving a marijuana farm was in 2008, when
Dibert had been one of two deputies who fired at three men tending a
farm in the Saratoga hills, killing one.

All three deputies were placed on administrative leave after
Wednesday's shooting, which is routine practice. The coroner's office
has not yet identified the man who was fatally shot.

The raid also involved six sheriffs' deputies from Alameda County, who
were not involved in the shooting.

Another fatal shooting at a marijuana farm believed to be connected to
the Mexican drug trade occurred in August 2005, when county sheriff's
deputies shot and killed a 33-year-old East Palo Alto man near Mount
Umunhum after he shot at a state fish and game warden. Authorities
subsequently destroyed 22,000 plants estimated to be worth $80 million

Authorities have estimated that 75 percent to 90 percent of new
marijuana farms in recent years can be linked to Mexican gangs. While
a particular problem for California, long a center for marijuana
farming, the effects have reached nationwide: The Drug Enforcement
Administration said that in 2008, police across the country destroyed
or seized 7.6 million plants.

Congdon, who has worked for seven years as a manager and spent 15
years as a park ranger, said raiding marijuana farms is much more
dangerous now.

"I remember years ago, and we'd raid a small pot farm, and it would
just be some teenagers," Congdon said.

"To me, it's extremely hazardous," he added. "It's just unfortunate
that we have to deal with this."