Clues in Saratoga (CA) pot bust suggest link to Mexican drug cartel

Teh Murky Nuz ^ | 7/16/2008 01:30:38 AM PDT | Linda Goldston

[martin_fierro]

Clues in Saratoga pot bust suggest link to Mexican drug cartel

From the bags of beans and rice found in the camp to the type of fertilizer used on the plants, the large marijuana farm in the Saratoga hills that was the scene of a deadly shooting last week has all of the marks of a Mexican drug cartel, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.

The farm is part of a growing trend dating back to the 1980s, when increased security at the U.S.-Mexico border prompted drug trafficking organizations and cartels to move part of their business to California - and closer to their buyers.

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The farm was discovered when a resident of Bohlman Road noticed unusual traffic on a footpath and contacted the sheriff's department.

When local and state officers hiked into the camp early Thursday, they said they encountered three armed Hispanic men. One of the men was killed by the fire of at least two deputies and the other two men escaped on foot and remain at large.

"I ran up there to see if they needed any more help," Cooke said.

He said authorities will keep "beating the bushes" for the two men and urged mountain residents or those living close to open space or public park lands to be alert to any new trails or unusual vehicle traffic going into the area.

"Somebody's got to drop them off, make food runs, bring them toilet paper," he said.

[martin_fierro]

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[NormsRevenge]

and just imagine what is growing in some national forests and who planted it.

big business? Oh yeah.

[skeeter]

"I ran up there to see if they needed any more help," Cooke said.

He's lucky he wasn't met with a hail of 9mm gunfire from the authorities.

If this is going on now, I fully expect that soon the bay area will have the same kind of drug wars & gangland executions they have down on the border.

[EggsAckley]

We just busted 4 kids who have been camping in a very dry tinderbox meadow and growing plants. They had a total of four plants. Pathetic. They’re really scared now and I don’t think they’ll be back.

But I really worry that some bigger operation out there that might be a whole lot more serious.

[ken21]

without a serious combined intervention by the u.s. and mexican governments,

it will just get worse.

many police are corrupt,

and the new indian casinos increase the prostitutes.

gambling, prostitution, drugs and police corruption go together.

[Hoplite]

If this is going on now

This was going on in '93.

Same location (Saratoga foothills), same issue (marijuana plantation guarded by non-English speaking illegal immigrants).

I have to think the big money and attendant violence is still focused on the cocaine trade - one can make money farming dope, sure, but the income realized would be a rounding error to a drug cartel accountant.

[TKDietz]

What? What do Indian casinos have to do Mexicans growing pot in the hills of California?

You're right about it getting worse. Government intervention is what is making it worse. The harder it becomes to smuggle it, the more the cartels worry that too many of their loads will be seized while smuggling it, the more you'll see grown in our national forests. And as law enforcement bust more Mexican outdoor grows guess what will happen? They'll start growing it indoors like the Asian gangs have been doing for a long time in Canada and are doing to a greater extent in this country. The DEA are already anticipating this. This will drive average potency of marijuana found in this country on up higher, and as the market becomes increasingly flooded with indoor grown pot, prices of potent indoor bud will come down just as they did in Canada. I bet you a dollar this is exactly what is going to happen in the next few years, probably to the delight of pot smokers who hate the cheap seedy low grade Mexican that still dominates the marijuana market in this country. Just wait and see.

[ken21]

i did not say what you said i said.

i said that gambling, prostitution, illegal drugs and corrupt cops go together.

[TKDietz]

Okay. I guess I didn't know what you were talking about because the last part of your post was just kind of random and out of nowhere. First you were saying something about how the problem of marijuana growing here will only get worse without the intervention from the Mexican and U.S governments, and then without any transition you went off on this thing about how many cops are corrupt and Indian casinos increase prostitution. The article was about a big marijuana field the police found behind a residential neighborhood. It said nothing about police corruption, gambling or prostitution. That just seemed to come out of nowhere. I guess these things go together as you say. Is there some Indian casino or corrupt cop or prostitution component of this story the rest of us aren't privy to that might have been in another article about this incident?