cannabisnews.com: 27,000 Pot Plants Seized as Raids Begin 





27,000 Pot Plants Seized as Raids Begin 
Posted by CN Staff on August 04, 2002 at 11:07:26 PT
By Mike Geniella, Staff Writer
Source: Press Democrat
Nearly 27,000 marijuana plants ranging in size from seedlings to more than 8 feet high were yanked from 46 Mendocino County sites during the first week of the state's annual crackdown against pot growers, state and local drug teams said Friday.Now in its 20th year, the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting said the Mendocino volume represented about one-third of the total amount of marijuana uncovered statewide in the first five days of the state's two-month effort to assist local law enforcement in finding the plants. 
``That's no surprise. Mendocino County continues to be one of biggest pot producers in the state,'' said Michael Van Winkle, a spokesman for the state program.Mendocino, where rugged back country and hot summer days provide almost near-perfect pot-growing conditions, has for years ranked among the top three marijuana-growing counties in the state.Indeed, so much of the illicit cash crop is grown in the region that CAMP has decided to assign one of its three raid teams -- along with helicopters and other military-type gear -- to work exclusively in Mendocino and Humboldt counties. The other two teams will cover the remainder of the state, Van Winkle said.Mendocino County Sheriff's Sgt. Rusty Noe, head of the county's year-round anti-marijuana effort, said his two-member team welcomes the state's help. ``We've already identified 200 or more other commercial-size marijuana garden sites. It's just a matter of being able to get to them,'' Noe said.Arrests aren't the focus as much as drug confiscation, but leads on dealers and growers will be followed, Noe said.Noe said that during this week's raids, agents came across eight camps where people guarding marijuana gardens were clearly staying. At one camp, he said a 38-caliber handgun and a shotgun were found, along with ammunition. The garden sites were connected to the camps by a network of trails, Noe said.As in recent years, evidence at the site suggests that undocumented Latino workers are being hired by commercial growers to guard the pot gardens, Noe said. ``They keep moving around the county, finding new sites on remote corporate timberlands and private ranches,'' He said. But no guards were found and no arrests were made.Noe said commercial marijuana-growing operations will continue to be the focus of the county and state's eradication efforts.``We don't have time to worry about the small growers. We need to focus on the large operations in hope of cutting down the volume of marijuana that makes it to the streets,'' Noe said.Van Winkle said the state campaign expects another bumper marijuana crop, given the scale of pot gardens uncovered during the first week.``The past three years have been the biggest in our 20-year history,'' said Van Winkle. ``We have every reason to believe this year's will be another one.''Source: Press Democrat, The (CA) Author: Mike Geniella, Staff WriterPublished: August 3, 2002 - Page B1Copyright: 2002 The Press Democrat Contact: letters pressdemo.com Website: http://www.pressdemo.com/ Related Articles: Pot Sites Pose a Growing Danger http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13461.shtmlHow Green is The Crop?http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11568.shtmlPatton of Pot - 60 Minutes IIhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread8656.shtml 
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Comment #7 posted by Zero_G on August 05, 2002 at 10:31:14 PT
Fly Jefferson Airplane
FAT ANGEL (Donovan Leitch)He will bring happiness in a pipeHe'll ride away on his silver bikeAnd apart from thatHe'll be so kind in consenting to blow your mindFly Translove Airways gets you there on timeFly Jefferson Airplane gets you there on timeHe will bring orchids for my lady - their perfume will be of an excellent kindAnd apart from that He'll be so kind in consenting to blow your mindFly Translove Airways gets you there on timeFly Jefferson Airplane gets you there on timeBless It's Pointing Little Head, indeed...JHarshaw, (Stranger in a Strange Land reference?)Anyway, Mendicino Co. is Northern California, not in the Southwest - and, while not verifying CAMPs numbers, most (if not all) Cannabis in Northern California is cultivated. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #6 posted by freedom fighter on August 04, 2002 at 22:15:04 PT
Gee, Kap! Just when?
Will the antis start thinking?To Mr. Anti:Simple note..Thanks for the PRICE SUPPORT.note: ( Only five words you need to understand)Thank youff
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on August 04, 2002 at 20:31:09 PT:
Antis...bless their pointed little heads
If you listen to antis long enough, sooner or later they will utter something that totally contradicts them. The main problem of that is that they remain blissfully ignorant of the fact they have verbally shot themselves in the foot:Van Winkle said the state campaign expects another bumper marijuana crop, given the scale of pot gardens uncovered during the first week.``The past three years have been the biggest in our 20-year history,'' said Van Winkle. ``We have every reason to believe this year's will be another one.''Uh-huh...now, Mr. Anti, just stop a moment, take a deep breath, put your thinking-cap on (can you remember where you placed it?) and get ready for some simple cogitation.(Cogitation. Cog-i-ta-tion. Too much for you? How about this: thinking. As you so evidently have not been doing.)If last year was your 'biggest year ever', and you expect that this year's haul will at least equall your 'success', then you have to wonder: just exactly how can you claim a gross increase in the amount of cannabis being cut down as proof of your 'success'?Seems to me you're being literally overgrown. Which means you are not succeeding, you are failing.Ah, antis. Entrusted with millions of dollars of the taxpayer's money...to engage in landscaping. Rather sloppily done landscaping, too. In this age of privatiztion, you'd think they'd get smart and subcontract that out to the lowest bidder.....OOOPs! I forgot; they are antis.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #4 posted by E_Johnson on August 04, 2002 at 14:58:30 PT
Well let's count every reason then Van Winkle
Van Winkle said the state campaign expects another bumper marijuana crop, given the scale of pot gardens uncovered during the first week."The past three years have been the biggest in our 20-year history," said Van Winkle. "We have every reason to believe this year's will be another one."Let's count every reason why you should expect another marijuana bumper crop in California this year:1. The boomers of America are aging and developing illnesses that the weed they smoked for fun back in college can actually help2. The entertainment industry that is so vital to the California economy has quietly been acknowledging that if people have a few joints every day after a hard day at work, it interrupts production schedules a lot less than if they have a few drinks every day after a hard day at work. 3. The need for a drug to relieve anxiety and post-traumatic stress in America has only increased because of the War on Terror and the collapse of several major corporations and loss of shareholder funds due to fictitious bookkeeping at the highest and most publicly trued levels.Are there any others?I'm sure there are.
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #3 posted by p4me on August 04, 2002 at 14:14:04 PT
I just do not see the benefit of these action.
Is this just an exercise program for the doughnut junkies? What is the good of driving the price of marijuana. They must be smoking something because what they are doing sounds fuct up to me.1,2
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #2 posted by Sam Adams on August 04, 2002 at 13:38:50 PT
Well, you won't
"We don't have time to worry about the small growers. We need to focus on the large operations in hope of cutting down the volume of marijuana that makes it to the streets,'' Noe said."I can predict with 100% certainly that nothing CAMP does this year will have any effect on the availability of marijuana.In the past 20 years they have, however, ensured that the business once run by peaceful hippies is now run by violent Mexican gangs. Nice job. 
[ Post Comment ]


Comment #1 posted by JHarshaw on August 04, 2002 at 12:02:58 PT
Numbers breakdown
I wonder how many of these plants were actually planted by humans and how much of it is really feral hemp, which I am told grows all over the Southwest U.S.I bet we'll never know.Peace and Pot
[ Post Comment ]


Post Comment