MARIJUANA MISSION HAS ROOTS IN ANCIENT HISTORY

The name of a two-week siege of illegal pot growers in Shasta County
harks back to Roman history.

Led by the Shasta County Sheriff's Department, "Operation Alesia" is
the biggest multiagency marijuana eradication operation in the
county's history, Sgt. Janet Breshears said Tuesday. Members of the
National Guard have flown to Redding to provide assistance.

Breshears said someone in the National Guard named the operation after
the "Battle of Alesia," which was the last major battle between the
Romans and the Gauls in 52 B.C. It was the turning point of the Gallic
War to Rome's favor and is known as one of Julius Caesar's finest battles.

The siege of Alesia involved cutting off supplies to the Gauls by
surrounding the hilltop fort with dug-in fortifications. The sheriff's
deputies are using similar tactics by cutting off the marijuana
growers' supplies, so that's why the operation was named after the
battle, Breshears said.

"We kind of made it fit," she said.