DRUGS WORTH $15 MILLION SEIZED

More than 3,000 marijuana plants were seized Friday by Solano County
sheriff's officials near the steep and rugged Gates Canyon, a remote area
northwest of Vacaville.

Seizure of the mature plants, valued at $5,000 each, will remove an
estimated $15 million in illicit drugs from the street, officers said.

That could be a record for county law enforcement, said spokesman
Keith Bloomfield.

The bust was led by sheriff's detectives, deputies and Cal-MMET
officers, a state drug enforcement group with ties to local agencies.

Following a recent tip, about 15 officers started their trek into
Gates Canyon early Friday morning.

After hours of hiking, they discovered, south of the canyon, several
large gardens of marijuana plants folded into the rugged terrain and
hidden beneath a canopy of manzanitas and oaks.

"You could fly over it and you'd never even see it," said Bloomfield,
who participated in the bust.

An "elaborate" camp was discovered in the vicinity of the plants.
However, no suspects were found, even though it was apparent the camp
recently had been occupied.

Officers said the heavily wooded terrain made it likely that any
suspects heard them coming before they arrived. Also, the ruggedness
of the area made it difficult to catch anyone.

"There's no way to get a perimeter on it and go in and squeeze them
out," said a Cal-MMET undercover officer, who asked not to be named.

The multiple marijuana gardens were fed by an irrigation hose that
drew water from a nearby spring.

Officers followed the irrigation hose, which led them from garden to
garden. The marijuana plants, which stood 6 feet tall, were flowering
and close to being harvested.

"We could smell it long before we found it," Bloomfield said.

Officers destroyed the plants in the backcountry because of the
remoteness of the area. Several teams were airlifted out by helicopter
after the seizure.