MARIJUANA BUSTS PASS 2006

Banner Year' For Pot Here

Narcotics detectives hauled a truckload of marijuana out of the North
County on Tuesday for the second time this week as the seizure of
hundreds of plants pushed figures past last year's totals.

The bust was the fourth this harvesting season, which spans from May
until October, and added 1,140 plants to the total amount of marijuana
seized this year, according to sheriff's spokesman, Sgt. Brian Hascall.

"Apparently it's going to be a banner year for marijuana in this
county," Hascall said. This year's 33,043 plants seized so far has
surpassed all of last year, when 32,362 plants were discovered.

"I think we just have more (marijuana)," said Hascall about the
increase. "We've got the same number of personnel in place. We have
the same agreement and working relationship with the Forest Service as
last year. I just think there are more grows out there that we're
discovering."

At 10 to 14 feet, the plants found Tuesday off Adelaida Road west of
Nacimiento Lake Drive were the tallest discovered this year.

A campsite found near the plants indicated people were living there to
tend to the marijuana. No one was at the site when sheriff's officials
hiked to the area Tuesday morning.

On Monday, the third marijuana farming operation found this year was
eradicated from a swath of land in Los Padres National Forest south of
Santa Margarita Lake. Narcotics detectives found about 5,700 plants
off Pozo Road that were about 2 to 4 feet tall.

There appears to be no connection between the two marijuana
operations, Hascall said.

"Half of the grow had already been harvested," Hascall said of
Monday's bust, estimating that the entire field would have been as
large as 12,000 plants.

U.S. Forest Service officials found the field several weeks ago and
kept it under surveillance.

There was no one at the site when about 30 investigators and rangers
raided the area in the early morning hours Monday. A campsite was
found. It appeared that whoever had been at the site had been gone for
several days, authorities said.

Packaged marijuana was found at both spots. Officers chopped the
plants down, and the marijuana was flown out of the remote area by
helicopter.

The largest bust this year yielded 61,000 plants on July 8 in an area
near the Santa Barbara County line off Highway 166.

Sheriff's officials said they are no longer estimating the street
value of marijuana plants found because the amount can vary
drastically when considering the size, maturity, concentration, amount
of bud on the plant and other factors.