$10,000 TO ERADICATE MARIJUANA

The Board of Supervisors approved an agreement with the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration that gives the sheriff's department $10,000 to
be used for the eradication of marijuana.

The grant is part of a federal effort to bolster regional efforts by law
enforcement to stop the illegal cultivation of marijuana.

"The Bay area is considered part of a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area,
and San Benito County is just on the southern tip of that area," Sheriff
Curtis Hill said. "This is much welcome funding."

Since the county was just outside the HITA, it was not considered eligible
for any of the grant money.

However, during the past four years, San Benito County has become one of
the leading production sites for marijuana growers.

Last fall, San Benito County was 10th in the state in the eradication of
marijuana from illegal gardens with 9,599 plants seized, worth an estimated
$38.4 million, according to statistics from the state's Campaign Against
Marijuana Production.

In light of the large marijuana grows in the county, the DEA is now
including San Benito as part of the HITA effort and awarded the sheriff's
department the grant. The Board's authorization was needed before the money
could be put to use.

Most of the grant will be used to help the Unified Narcotic Enforcement
Team, a regional task force that focuses on drug related cases.

"This county is going to send a message that we're going to go hard after
the dealers and drug traffickers who try to ply their illegal trade here,"
Hill said. "We're not going to back down from them, not for a minute."

Hill said his office will also apply for another HITA grant, one that
focuses on drug trafficking as related to gang activity.

"This is just a foot in the door to help us work toward getting these drugs
out of this county," Hill said.

He said drug abuse and trafficking is part of an ongoing and continuous
problem facing local law enforcement.

"That is because there is a large demand out there, and, where there is a
demand, some criminal is going to be tempted to try and fill it."