POT PLANTATION A POISONED DUMP

Ugly Side of Marijuana Trade Revealed at 'Typical' Grow Raided in
Mendocino Forest

PASKENTA - The U.S. Forest Service gave 20 members of the media a rare
look at the ugly side of the marijuana industry Wednesday, when it
raided an illegal grow in the Mendocino National Forest near Paskenta.

Three patches of pristine forest had been denuded and poisoned into
trash dumps.

The raid Wednesday was the latest in a three-week push by federal,
state and local authorities to locate and destroy as many illegal pot
gardens as possible, while making a maximum number of arrests.

As of Wednesday morning, Forest Service spokesman John Heil III said
88 arrests had been made in six counties, and 383,000 marijuana plants
had been uprooted and destroyed.

The push, nicknamed "Operation Full Court Press," began July 11 as
part of California's Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, and may
continue to July 29. Heil said about 200 agents from the Forest
Service, the California Department of Justice, and members of the Army
and Air Force National Guard are participating. Counties include
Glenn, Tehama, Colusa, Mendocino, Lake and Trinity.

Officials said the grow raided Wednesday in the Round Valley area of
Tehama County was typical.

Glenn County Sheriff Larry Jones said all of the gardens found are
"consistent with drug trafficking organizations out of Mexico."

Those tending the plants sleep in hammocks or on blankets on the bare
ground. Food is brought in by suppliers. At the site Wednesday, there
was evidence that the tenders had killed some local game - possibly a
deer - and were making their own sausage by hanging it in casings on a
tree limb to dry.

There were no weapons found at the grow Wednesday, but officials said
it's not unusual for tenders to be armed.

Cooking is done on propane stoves, though it appears most meals come
of out of a can. Garden tenders can spend up to six months in a grow
camp, leaving behind equipment and tons of garbage, which Jones said
costs an average of $12,000 per operation to clean up.

By contrast, the garden operation is sophisticated and
engineered.

Officials said an advance party, likely representing a cartel, had
scouted out the location beforehand.

Forest Service agent Daryl Rush said cartels look for areas that are
remote and offer concealment, but also offer access to water, and to
roads so the camps can be supplied.

When growers arrived in the garden raided Wednesday they knew where
they would be planting, how many plants the area would support, and
the equipment they would need to be successful.

The grow was irrigated by more than a half-mile of black tubing,
bringing water from a drainage area by a drip system to plants in
three terraced gardens. A poison had been spread around the plants to
deter or kill rats and deer, who favor munching on pot plants.

Jones said it's possible tenders are aware of other nearby garden
operations, and may run to them for safe haven in a raid.

Several portable radios were found abandoned in the grow, and there is
evidence the tenders were using car batteries hung from trees to
recharge electronic devices.

Forest Service spokesman Daryl Rush said the garden raided Wednesday
was probably planted in April. Some of the plants were already being
processed, but others were about a month away from maturity. The
tallest were just under seven feet.

Though a relatively small operation just a half-mile from a paved
Forest Service road, officials said the garden contained about 10,000
plants, with a street value after processing of about $1.25 million.

It took Forest Service personnel about an hour to eradicate the
plants, which they did by pulling them out by the roots, cutting off
the root ball, then bundling the plants for transport out of the area.

The pot found Wednesday isn't prime quality, officials said, and noted
that a lot of it would likely have ended up on the East Coast.

BACKGROUND: The U.S. Forest Service and other agencies began a
three-week push July 11 to raid illegal marijuana operations in six
Northern California counties, and arrest as many people as possible.

WHAT'S NEW: On Wednesday, about midway through the operation,
officials said 88 suspects had been arrested, and 383,000 pot plants
had been eradicated.