Cannabis News DrugSense
  Marijuana Growing by Acre in California
Posted by FoM on July 28, 2001 at 08:27:53 PT
By Mike Geniella, The New York Times  
Source: The State 

cannabis As the state prepares to launch its annual harvest crackdown on marijuana growers, law enforcement agencies say more illicit gardens than ever are being found. The largest marijuana growing operation found so far this year in the state was uncovered earlier this month near San Diego.

Agents uprooted a total of 102,000 plants found growing on the slopes of Mount Palomar. But it is Northern California’s Mendocino County that is on track to once again be the state’s top pot producer.

Since January, 75,696 plants from mostly indoor growing operations have been seized in Mendocino County, which routinely ranks along with neighboring Humboldt and Trinity as the top three pot-producing counties in the state. So much of the green, leafy stuff is typically grown in the three-county region that it’s long been dubbed the “Emerald Triangle.”

The marijuana black market in Northern California is estimated to generate at least $1 billion a year for growers and sellers.

The state’s anti-marijuana effort — Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, or CAMP — pays for teams of additional local, state and federal agents who move in over an eight-week period at harvest time to assist local agents. The state also provides helicopters and other equipment.

More than 200 dope-growing sites have been identified so far in Mendocino County, and more are being uncovered every day, said Sheriff’s Sgt. Rusty Noe. Noe, who leads the county’s anti-marijuana efforts, said most of the known sites are located on public lands or on corporate-owned timberlands.

The Mendocino discoveries since January have included sophisticated indoor growing operations camouflaged in structures designed on the outside to look like new homes. Noe’s unit in April also uncovered a marijuana-growing operation inside five old shipping containers buried 5 feet underground in a remote region near Covelo.

State authorities say the discovery in San Diego and the “fake house” operations in Mendocino underscore the dominance of large, commercial marijuana operations in today’s underground marijuana economy.

“We’re seeing huge gardens everywhere, even in places where, traditionally, marijuana cultivation is unknown,” said Mike Van Winkle, a spokesman for the state’s annual program. The state’s 18th year of beefing up local efforts during the marijuana harvest season begins next week, and Van Winkle said early indications are that more pot than ever is being grown.

“The street value is attracting big-time operators, mostly Mexican drug cartels and gangs who continue to move into California,” Van Winkle said.

Van Winkle said state agents have gathered evidence that the drug cartels use cash earned in the lucrative underground methamphetamine market to finance marijuana-growing operations. “The profits can be huge, especially when growing tens of thousands of plants at one time,” Van Winkle said.

Long gone are the days when the illicit cash crop was grown largely by mom-and-pop cultivators.

“We routinely come across operations so large that we don’t even have time to mess with the small guy,” Noe said.

Source: State, The (SC)
Author: Mike Geniella, The New York Times
Published: Saturday, July 28, 2001
Copyright: 2001 The State
Website: http://www.thestate.com/
Contact: stateeditor@thestate.com

Related Articles:

Total Uprooted From Mountain Site 100,000 Plants
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10366.shtml

Major Pot Find on Palomar Mountain was Discovered
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10304.shtml

Patton of Pot - 60 Minutes II
http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8656.shtml


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Comment #3 posted by freedom fighter on July 29, 2001 at 22:56:23 PT
Whatcha ya talking about??
"Long gone are the days when the illicit cash crop was grown largely by mom-and-pop cultivators"

So many more mom-and-pop growers are out there...

WE HAVE OVERGROWN THE GOVT. AND THEY JUST DO NOT GET IT!!

ff

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Comment #2 posted by fivepounder on July 28, 2001 at 14:15:36 PT
YEAH, WE'RE PREPARING FOR THE HARVEST
Eighteen years of price supports and the ridiculious cat and mouse game we play. Camp has made alot of people rich. There's more then ever out there. Yet they are so stupid they think they are making a difference. What a bunch of bozos.

[ Post Comment ]
 
Comment #1 posted by Indoors on July 28, 2001 at 12:37:31 PT
Indoor grower subsidization
> Agents uprooted a total of 102,000 plants found growing on the slopes of Mount Palomar. But it is Northern California’s Mendocino County that is on track to once again be the state’s top pot producer.


thanks for the price supports, agent guys


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