cannabisnews.com: Madera Marijuana Farm Found! Madera Marijuana Farm Found! Posted by FoM on June 12, 1999 at 12:17:09 PT Source: The Fresno Bee MADERA A helicopter looking for commercial marijuana farms bounced over a ridge this week in the Madera County mountains, and there below in neat rows was an estimated $1.7 million worth of the illegal crop. Pilot Mike Brown used the California Highway Patrol copter's electronic satellite positioning to pinpoint the location at latitude 37-north, longitude 119-west. Madera County Sheriff's Sgt. Darin McMechan scanned the steep and remote terrain, looking for ground access. "We'll be back," McMechan promised. This week's helicopter search was one of the early forays in Madera County Sheriff John Anderson's plan to use all of the outside resources he can to discourage the illegal farming. The marijuana garden was the first turned up this year in Madera County, but McMechan and Brown do not expect it to be the last. McMechan didn't say when or how the Sheriff's Department would follow up on the discovery, but in past summers, deputies have set up ground and air surveillance, sometimes camping out in the nearby forest to catch the marijuana farmers. It will be the Sheriff's Department that cuts and burns the crop. It's part of Anderson's intensified air-ground effort since taking over in January. Madera County's specially dedicated Narcotics Enforcement Team includes four Madera sheriff's deputies along with officers from the Madera and Chowchilla city police and a Madera County Probation Department officer. Last summer was "slow" with only seven commercial marijuana gardens raided in Madera County, McMechan said. Illegal methamphetamine labs also have been found and "busted" in the Madera County mountains, but these aren't readily detectable from the air without tips from someone on the ground, McMechan said. In past years, he has followed up on tips from Southern California. He made one arrest in Santa Ana in connection with a Madera County commercial marijuana plantation. McMechan is stationed at the Madera County Sheriff's Substation at Bass Lake. He also participates in helicopter mountain rescue work. The idea of aerial searching isn't to look into people's back yards; it's to locate the big plantations, he said. "It's commercial growing," McMechan said before the CHP helicopter H-40 lifted off from Batterson Fire Station near Highway 41 Thursday. "It's not for personal use." McMechan and Brown characterized this week's discovery as a substantial commercial operation. McMechan estimated 500 plants, between 3 and 4 feet high. Mature plants each produce about $3,500 worth of commercial marijuana. For about an hour, the copter scanned the mountain watersheds and wooded slopes from the Fresno River to the San Joaquin. The marijuana plantation about 15 minutes out of Batterson was the only one seen on this flight. No one was seen on the ground near the site, but Madera County authorities have the area under surveillance for any sign of the growers. "They're armed," Brown said about those hired to plant and guard the marijuana farms. "They cartels hire people to go out there and do all the dirty work. They sit back and reap the profits." Before he was elected sheriff, Anderson, the former Central Division CHP chief, said he wanted to increase cooperation with other law enforcement agencies. Keeping the CHP's H-40 in the air costs just under $400 an hour for fuel and maintenance, Brown said. Funds come from the state agency's annual budget. "That's what it's here for," Anderson said. "If you register your car, you're paying for that helicopter. That's the way the program was set up, to assist local agencies that couldn't afford their own helicopters." Aerial searches aren't new in California, including Madera County, but Thursday's flight was Anderson's first use of the Fresno-based CHP copter to find local marijuana crops. Last year, National Guard copters conducted marijuana searches over Madera County as part of multiagency operations. State CHP and Guard aircraft along with U.S. Forest Service copters will be enlisted all summer to find marijuana plantations in the Madera County woods, Anderson promised. He said he didn't care whether marijuana farmers knew it. "By now, they're crops in the ground," Anderson said. "They can't move them." END SNIP --> Snipped Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #14 posted by dirty smoker on November 20, 2000 at 14:13:16 PT MARIJUANA aLLO CHU FRANCAIS PI G SURFÉ SU TON SITE YAHOOOOOUUU VIVE LE POT CHU PLUTOT KÉBÉCOIS [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by deejay on June 25, 1999 at 09:16:48 PT: question y-a t-il des français qui ont deja surfer sur ce site ? si oui,repondez moi a :djaydail hotmail.com [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by FoM on June 13, 1999 at 17:46:46 PT Multiple Posts Hello Dr. Ganj,I still have this dumb poison ivy! LOL! Haven't seen or stepped on anymore snakes but we are having a 13 year, I believe, locust plague! They got these big beady red eyes and make a noise that when you listen it sounds like when they would say Beam Me up Scotty on Star Trek! LOL!That's fine about the muliple post. It happens. In the future I think Ron will make a way to edit extras out but it doesn't matter to me. I'm just glad when I see enthusiasm! That's all that counts in my book! Have a good night!Peace, FoM! [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by Dr. Ganj on June 13, 1999 at 16:45:04 PT Multiple posts FoM...Charlie is brand new to the Internet, and I'm sure he will quickly learn to only press "Post Message" once. :-)Hope that poison ivy is gone, and the snakes aren't crawling up your pants! Cheers, Dr. Ganj http://www.shroomery.org [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by FoM on June 13, 1999 at 15:34:04 PT Thanks For The Compliment! Thanks Charlie for the compliment! Please visit often! Dr. Ganj is very good and has been an inspiration to me ever since Cannabis News was opened last December!People like Dr.Ganj really help make the difference!Peace, FoM! [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by CHASNone on June 13, 1999 at 10:12:18 PT: Intrest on updated cannabis news? What a great site,you've out done yourself, great infoaccurate details everything is exceptional!! Please e-mailme Chas51499 aol.com.Thanks. This Dr. Ganj what a excellent grasp on the reality and truth of these events.Well done. Once again great site, and thanks. Charlie [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by CHASNone on June 13, 1999 at 10:12:06 PT: Intrest on updated cannabis news? What a great site,you've out done yourself, great infoaccurate details everything is exceptional!! Please e-mailme Chas51499 aol.com.Thanks. This Dr. Ganj what a excellent grasp on the reality and truth of these events.Well done. Once again great site, and thanks. Charlie [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by CHASNone on June 13, 1999 at 10:12:00 PT: Intrest on updated cannabis news? What a great site,you've out done yourself, great infoaccurate details everything is exceptional!! Please e-mailme Chas51499 aol.com.Thanks. This Dr. Ganj what a excellent grasp on the reality and truth of these events.Well done. Once again great site, and thanks. Charlie [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by CHASNone on June 13, 1999 at 10:11:57 PT: Intrest on updated cannabis news? What a great site,you've out done yourself, great infoaccurate details everything is exceptional!! Please e-mailme Chas51499 aol.com.Thanks. This Dr. Ganj what a excellent grasp on the reality and truth of these events.Well done. Once again great site, and thanks. Charlie [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by CHASNone on June 13, 1999 at 10:11:53 PT: Intrest on updated cannabis news? What a great site,you've out done yourself, great infoaccurate details everything is exceptional!! Please e-mailme Chas51499 aol.com.Thanks. This Dr. Ganj what a excellent grasp on the reality and truth of these events.Well done. Once again great site, and thanks. Charlie [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by FoM on June 13, 1999 at 06:35:44 PT I'm Keeping The Faith Because of People Like You! Hello Dr. Ganj,We will keep getting the word out! This is how the world will see how wrong they have been about this fine medicinal plant! How is your web site coming along? If I can help you in anyway please e-mail be at: comments cannabisnews.com My goal for Cannabis News is to help promote those who are really serious about marijuana reform. This is a small news site and that can make it more home town. I believe in the big organizations like Maps Inc. and Marijuana News but I feel a need to fill a void with more individual people's commitments to the cause.Peace, FoM! My Medical Marijuana Page [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Dr. Ganj on June 12, 1999 at 22:02:33 PT Keep The Faith FoM! FoM...We have to get the truth out, as that will be the deciding factor that will change the perception on marijuana. When the majority sees the facts, reason will prevail, and the laws will change.It is a mighty beast that won't be slain easily. However, as we continue to pierce its thick hide with the honest truth, reason shall overcome the shadows of horror.Dr. Ganj http://www.marijuananews.com/dead_plants_returned_to_californ.htm [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on June 12, 1999 at 21:15:26 PT You Are So Right! You said it all once again Dr. Ganj!What you are saying is the truth and I can't possibly add anything to your summary of the way it really is!Thanks Again for your great comments!Peace, FoM! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Dr. Ganj on June 12, 1999 at 19:49:36 PT More Taxpayers' Money Being Wasted What a laugh! 1.7 million dollars! Ha! The lame porkers always over-inflate the potential worth of these gardens to try and justify spending $400.00/hr in flight costs. Now let's see- 500 plants in June, before they have shown their sex equates to 250 females +/- by August. Next, factor in the terrible loss due to rats, rabbits, and deer, and this commercial "cartel" plantation now becomes just another large garden, where probably four people would have shared 180 plants producing around 1/4 pound each for a total yield of: 720 ounces, or 45 pounds, or 11.25 pounds per partner, giving each partner $56,250 based on $5,000 per pound. Hardly a huge commercial operation by any stretch, but that's what the cops say every year. Oh, and every year, it's the same pathetic blather: "We need more funding to stop these narcotic producers". Blah, blah, blah...We are so tired of reading the same bloated lies. Come on folks, not for a second should you believe these police reports. Ever since they started CAMP(Campaign Against Marijuana Planting)in the early 1980's, they have been spewing the same mendacious propaganda. "These armed drug dealers- Those Mexican gang members- Those commercial operations that will hurt our children" Yeah, right.The real problem here, is money. The cops have been given these funds for more than 19 years, and if they don't lie and inflate their stories, and the truth were told, the allocated monies would no longer be available, as there is no justification of spending $100,000 on pulling up a few beautiful plants that in fact help people! So write your local sheriff, your state lawmakers, and tell them you don't want YOUR tax money going to help pull up marijuana plants in the hills of California. Enough is enough, and it is now time to stop funding these unproductive and intrusive helicopter flights.Dr. Ganj http://www.drcnet.org/ [ Post Comment ] Post Comment Name: Optional Password: E-Mail: Subject: Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message] Link URL: Link Title: