STATE OFFICIALS REPORT RECORD POT SEIZURES

Mexican drug cartels, attracted by the state's rich soil and remote
forests, grew nearly three-quarters of the pot seized in California this
fall, state officials announced Tuesday.

That marks a dangerous shift toward large and sophisticated growing
operations, said Sonya Barna, commander of the Department of Justice's
Campaign Against Marijuana Production, known as CAMP.

``It used to be an industry controlled by hippies with small gardens,''
Barna said. ``Now, it's not uncommon to see cartels planting anywhere from
2,000 to 10,000 plants in a garden.''

This year, local, state and federal drug agents confiscated a record
354,000 of marijuana plants worth about $1.4 billion, Attorney General Bill
Lockyer said Tuesday.

State officials say higher prices -- as much as $4,000 a pound -- makes
marijuana cultivation a fast-growing industry.