cannabisnews.com: Fresno Authorities Busy Busting Marijuana Farms





Fresno Authorities Busy Busting Marijuana Farms
Posted by CN Staff on June 18, 2004 at 13:00:10 PT
By Mark Arax
Source: Contra Costa Times 
Fresno -- On the edge of suburbia here, where farmland awaits the developer's plow, the magnificent gardens of Southeast Asian refugees rise and fall.On leased ground no bigger than 5 or 10 acres -- small potatoes to the giant industrial growers -- the refugees plant their own longshot dreams: Chinese bitter melon, Chinese broccoli, Thai chili, ong choy, su choy, daikon and kohlrabi.
The best strawberries in the San Joaquin Valley are grown by a tribe of CIA-trained commandos who fled the highlands of Laos after the Vietnam War. Thai eggplant, slightly spicier than its Armenian cousin, is the specialty of the lowland Lao.This spring, anticipating another harvest of low prices in the nation's most productive farm belt, some Southeast Asian niche farmers are planting a new cash crop under the brutal sun: marijuana.In the past two months, Fresno County investigators have busted at least half a dozen marijuana fields hidden by borders of cherry tomatoes. A more ideal camouflage crop -- the tomato and the marijuana plant have similar leaves -- would be hard to find. Nearly 40,000 squat but prolific bushes have been yanked out and set ablaze, an illicit harvest worth $40 million on the streets -- more than last year's value for cherries or Valencia oranges or sweet corn in Fresno County.Five lowland Lao refugees have been arrested and charged with cultivating marijuana for sale. The record heat of spring has not only pushed the vineyards and fruit orchards several weeks ahead of their growing cycles but matured the marijuana in half the time."This is the earliest in my 23 years as a narc that we've taken off so many marijuana plots," said Lt. Rick Hill of the Fresno County Sheriff's Department. "Usually, the plots we find are in the mountains, and they're mostly operated by gangs from Mexico. These new plots are down on the valley floor, and it's Southeast Asians who are growing them."As sheriff's deputies canvass the truck farms of Fresno County looking for greener-than-green plants, Southeast Asian leaders are complaining that their community is being unfairly singled out. In one news release, the Sheriff's Department advised landowners leasing property to Southeast Asian farmers to inspect the rows for cannabis.The refugees counter that the vast majority of their truck farms are clean and that authorities, by targeting Southeast Asian farms, are making it difficult for future refugees to lease farmland."Anyone who reads the local paper has the conception that Southeast Asian farmers grow marijuana," said Tzexa Cherta Lee, a leading Hmong grower and packer in Fresno County. "Someone even asked me the other day if the white caps we put over the plants to protect them from frost is the Southeast Asian way of hiding the marijuana."The Hmong, a tribe of 18 clans from the Laotian highlands, were slash-and-burn farmers who lived in jungle huts until the CIA recruited them to fight communist forces during the Vietnam War. After suffering high combat mortality rates, the Hmong began resettling in central California by the tens of thousands in the late 1970s.By contrast, the lowland Lao, city dwellers back home, have had a somewhat easier time crossing the cultural divide. But this has not led to economic gain, at least not for the majority.Twenty-five years after resettlement, both the Hmong and lowland Lao communities still rely heavily on government assistance. While more than half of the second-generation Southeast Asians have gone on to college or well-paying careers here, social workers say, 40 percent flounder in dead-end jobs or a cycle of gangs and welfare dependency.For many unskilled refugees who speak no English, the truck farm represents the best shot at escaping poverty. Making the fringe of Fresno bloom, though, is no easy go. The labor is long, and everyone in the family must pitch in.They say with pride that no bosses look over their shoulders when they trudge to the wooden tent in the middle of the field to eat noodles and spicy beef. But at the end of the day, the buyer's prices are low and they struggle to cover the rent. Just when they think they have mastered the vagaries of soil and climate, it seems, the landowner sells out to a developer. Refugees hop from field to field, tent to tent.Each year, the production value of Asian vegetables increases slightly. Last year, farms totaling 1,470 acres produced $10.3 million -- just a sliver of the $4 billion in crops grown by Fresno County."For the most part, these guys are legitimate small farmers. Now a handful lured by the big bucks have stepped over the line," said Dennis Plann, the county's deputy agricultural commissioner.Fresno Sheriff's officials agree that only a fraction of Southeast Asian truck farmers are involved in marijuana cultivation, and they have apologized to the refugees for public comments that suggest they are targets. But they warn that the illegal operations and all that they entail -- such as the use of high-powered rifles and night-vision gear -- can pose dangers.The marijuana raised is an unusual breed. Nurtured indoors and conditioned to grow no more than 3 feet tall, the bushy-leafed crop is easy to hide once transplanted. This season's first surveillance took narcotics officers to a Southeast Asian vegetable farm that stretched out over 40 acres, far bigger than most."About 25 acres were cropped, and 15 acres were being used for marijuana," Hill said. "I had farmers who walked their dogs every day along that property and all they saw was tomatoes." Source: Contra Costa Times (CA)Author: Mark AraxPublished: Friday, June 18, 2004Copyright: 2004 Knight RidderContact: letters cctimes.comWebsite: http://www.contracostatimes.com/CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on June 18, 2004 at 14:52:57 PT
Related Article: Drug War in the Park 
By Diana Marcum, The Fresno Bee Friday, June 18, 2004SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK -- Scrub jays chatter, summer-blue sky is the backdrop for granite cliffs and campers are rustling up breakfast. Just a half-mile away are camouflaged rangers carrying M-16 rifles and calling cards -- little placards with a sketch of a marijuana plant crossed through with a red line. The point man, the one they call "Rabbit," gives a briefing:Watch out for poison oak and rattlesnakes, he warns. He goes over hand signals for "bad guy" and "bad guy with gun" (pointing and pointing as if holding a trigger). And he tells the small group they can go slow and enjoy the scenery as they search for a reported marijuana garden they suspect is watched over by armed guards."No testosterone here. We're the Park Service. We're into mountains and butterflies and trees."This summer, park rangers in Sequoia are putting their own stamp on drug enforcement. Large-scale marijuana plantations that Drug Enforcement Administration agents suspect are linked to Mexican drug cartels have moved into the national parks. Rangers and federal agents say that this park -- home to the biggest trees on Earth -- has the biggest problem.Snipped:Complete Article: http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/8726969p-9603520c.html
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Comment #1 posted by E_Johnson on June 18, 2004 at 13:40:30 PT
How does one reason with crazy violent people?
If some LEO's out there think I mean them, well...
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