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| 200 Million in Pot Seized in Huge Kern Bust |
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Posted by FoM on August 31, 2000 at 09:20:57 PT The Bakersfield Californian Local News Source: Bakersfield Californian 
Law enforcement officials made the largest marijuana bust this year in the Kern County section of the Sequoia National Forest Wednesday. Officials said multiple gardens with a total of approximately 50,000 plants were found during a recent aerial exploratory survey. Sequoia National Forest spokesman Artie Colson said the plants ranged from 5 to 8 feet tall and were valued at $200 million.The gardens were located in the Havilah area, about 10 miles south of Lake Isabella and north of Walker Basin. The gardens were spread out over a four-mile radius. Before this bust, Colson said, the largest raid of the year was on Aug. 2 when officials found 13,000 plants in the forest. "This (recent bust) pretty much dwarfs all of that. We really didn't have any indication that it (marijuana) was so prevalent," Colson said. About 75 officers from eight different agencies were on site by 6 a.m. Wednesday. Some officers were lowered to the ground on ropes by helicopters in the more isolated areas, according to officials. Colson said they found an "ingenious" setup, complete with an irrigation system and fertilizers. The agencies involved were: California Highway Patrol, Kern County Sheriff's Department, Bakersfield Police Department, Department of Justice, Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, State Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Agency. The bust was part of Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP). Colson said the CAMP program has seized a total of 150,000 marijuana plants throughout the state. Officials planned on spending Wednesday and today cutting down the plants to be transported to a disposal site, where they will be buried. Colson advised people to be careful if they plan on visiting the forest over Labor Day weekend. "If you spot anything suspicious, turn around and walk away," he said. The gardens are often booby-trapped with guns, fish hooks and other devices. Published: August 30, 2000 Related Articles: Sheriff's Raid Nets $7.5m in Pot Marijuana Garden Worth $40 Million Destroyed Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help |
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| Comment #5 posted by oh man on August 27, 2001 at 21:10:12 PT |
| wow i definetly can appreciate your little [ex-po-zay] right there (i can't spell sorry) but yea all i got to say is right on hehe you show them fuzz what's up [ Post Comment ] |
| Comment #4 posted by Kanabys on September 01, 2000 at 11:29:33 PT |
Let's hope that they had seed on them already!!
Who else is getting sick of their acronyms? CAMP
and thier stupid code names, Operation (whatever)
Stupid narcopigs.....
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Comment #3 posted by Ben Cohn on August 31, 2000 at 13:12:22 PT:
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The cops claim 50,000 plants were there, and place their value at $200,000,000. $200,000,000/50,000 plants = $4000/plant.
Even allowing for outrageous street prices like $500/ounce, that still works out to at least 8 ounces (a half pound) per plant! Well tended, irrigated, fetilized outdoor plants MIGHT potentially produce that, but I'd guess it's not easy. 50,000 plants hidden in a National Forest are unlikely to have a large mechanical watering system, or hordes of fieldworkers spreading manure on them. They would not be the prime specimens that could produce so much.
If you factor in that nobody can sell what would be literally TONS of marijuana at rip-off prices like $500/ounce, then the cops must be estimating a lot higher than 8 ounces per plant, maybe as high as a pound per plant, which is just not doable, even with plants that were 8' high.
This would all be comical, if it weren't for the fact that this same "cop math" is used when calculating potential output from a home garden. Every seedling is treated as if it could produce up to a pound, and then sentences are handed out correspondingly.
We need to speak up whenever these bad numbers are thrown at us. Do the math yourself, and then let others know what you figured. Never accept "offical" estimates at face value.
Towards a more tolerant and informed future.
Ben Cohn
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on August 31, 2000 at 10:36:02 PT:
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Statewire
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/
Published: Thursday, August 31, 2000
ST. PAUL (AP) -- The Grassroots Party says it is prepared to hold a block party and march in September to support legalizing marijuana even though it doesn' t have the proper city permits.
So far, event organizer and party chairman Chris Wright said the city has refused to permit the " 14th Annual Minnesota Tea Party" for Sept. 16 because Wright has refused to comply with police requests to hire as many as five off-duty officers. Last year, there were two and that was sufficient, Wright said.
" They' re putting up some unreasonable free-speech roadblocks, " Wright said. " Frankly, we' re not going to pay for it (additional officers) and we' re going to march. There' s no reason we should observe such an unconstitutional infringement on our free speech."
St. Paul Police Department spokesman Michael Jordan said the request has nothing to do with infringing on free speech -- it is a matter of public safety.
The issue of added security came up, Wright said, because four or five arrests were made at the 1999 event, which drew about 1, 000 people.
The state has tentatively approved a permit allowing the event on the Capitol grounds.
But Wright said he needs three additional city permits, including official approval to hold a block party at the base of the Capitol mall; to hold a parade; and to march on Summit Avenue near the governor' s residence.
The event is a political rally of sorts that includes music and voter registration as well as the march. The event is held, in part, to show the party' s support for repealing the laws that outlaw the use of marijuana and other narcotics.
Copyright 2000 Associated Press.
| Comment #1 posted by Lehder on August 31, 2000 at 10:00:13 PT |
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