Agents seize $1.2 billion worth of pot in Calif.

AP on SFGate.com ^ | 7/23/09 | Garance Burke - ap

[NormsRevenge]

Fresno, Calif. (AP) --

Federal and state agents have arrested 83 people for growing more than $1.2 billion worth of marijuana in an ongoing crackdown on illegal pot gardens in California's Sierra Nevada range.

Local officials said several Mexican marijuana-growing cartels helped set up the grow sites scattered throughout rocky mountainsides of eastern Fresno County, and warned more arrests were likely as the sweep continues.

More than 318,000 marijuana plants were destroyed in the operation, which also netted nearly $41,000 in cash, 25 weapons and two vehicles, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said Thursday.

[NormsRevenge]

82 of the 83 arrested are Mexicans, some have been arrested before in previous years in other areas of the state for the same type of offenses.

Just growing the pot Americans refuse to grow, I reckun.

[NormsRevenge]

That’s a lot of lost tax revenue.

[doc1019]

ROFLMAO!

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

So thats where I left my stash...

[NormsRevenge]

There’s green in them thar hills!

[C210N]

While -7bama murders the auto industry, banking industry, insurance industry, energy sector, and now trying to have his way with the health care sector, here is one area which should be taken down. Perhaps evidence of trying to destroy everything, and not pick-n-choosing...

[doc1019]

Ditto my last post. Thanks I needed this. ;-)

[Gator113]

Marijuana .. lettuce... both are green, both come out of the dirt... it’s all so confusing.

At least we now know where all of the lettuce pickers go to wait for new job openings.

[mysterio]

Waste of police resources.

[Hodar]

1.2 Billion dollars worth of pot...

I wonder how many lost jobs this translates into?

[Flycatcher]

I'm heartened by these arrests. Our western wilderness (particularly in the Sierras and certain coast ranges) are being overrun by these gangsters. It's becoming very dangerous to set foot in many of our wild places because of their remote pot farms and their paranoia in protecting them.

They're human vermin, and they need to be removed and eradicated.

[EGPWS]

More than 318,000 marijuana plants were destroyed in the operation, which also netted nearly $41,000 in cash, 25 weapons and two vehicles, Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims said Thursday.

Is California going to confiscate the plants to sell and help pay off it's debt?

[AuntB]

Another big one in the news today.

These are Mexican drug cartels/Ms-13, they are armed and dangerous and absolutely destroying public lands.

http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-jul2209-marijuana_grow.67b95315.html
Idaho News
A large outdoor marijuana grow operation was eradicated Monday on federal land in Baker County, Oregon. Police say two people were arrested at the site and approximately 3,500 marijuana plants were located.

The grow operation is similar to others found over the past several years in eastern Oregon, and was located in rugged terrain in the Snake River area. This is the second large grow operation found in Baker County this year.

The grow yielded marijuana plants 4 to 6 feet in height. Detectives estimate that if the plants were left undetected and allowed to grow to full maturity they would have yielded about two pounds per plant. Estimated value of the marijuana would be $2,000 to $3,500 per pound.

The two men taken into custody were identified as Jose Piedad Gamino-Villa, 28, and Humberto Gamino-Villa, 32, both from Mexico. They were booked in the Baker County Jail for unlawful possession, delivery and manufacturing of marijuana.

Also:http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/07/marijuana_farm_in_baker_county.html
(with photos of the perps)

[snip]”We believe these were both planted by members of Mexican drug cartels,’’ Duby said. “They find good sources of water and set up drip irrigation systems.”

Duby said the plants were scattered over remote, rugged terrain on about three to five acres of land on terraced hillsides. Typically, law enforcement officials spot the grow operations from the air.

The men arrested were identified as 28-year-old Jose Piedad Gamino Villa, and Humbert Gamino Villa, 32, both from Mexico. They were booked into the Baker County Jail for possession, delivery and manufacturing marijuana.

For photos of these grows in No. California, look here:
http://towncriernews.blogspot.com/search?q=Invasion+lou+dobbs

[RoadKingSE]

Agents seize $1.2 billion worth of pot in Calif.

Dammm, that bites dude.

[AuntB]

See post 13.

http://towncriernews.blogspot.com/search?q=Invasion+lou+dobbs

[fr_freak]

Waste of police resources.

In this case, I disagree. Anything that kicks the Mexican drug cartels in the groin and makes it harder for them to do business in the US is a good thing. However, what many people are too short-sighted or brainwashed to realize is that if we legalized marijuana in CA, the cartels immediately lose millions per year in revenue since anybody could grow a couple of plants in their backyard or closet if they wanted it. The criminalization of a particular plant is what makes this market so lucrative for the cartels.

[Secret Agent Man]

The state then sold the pot for 2 billion, and Arnold paid off some of the state’s huge debt.

[Tennessee Nana]

BILLION ????????????????????????

[Mariner]

"You can imagine looking from a helicopter down onto a forest, there are a lot of different shades of green. It took some specially trained personnel to spot where the marijuana was growing," Mims said. "We found it planted on hillsides and gullies, and some of the plants had grown to be eight feet tall."

They don't have specially trained personnel to spot pot. That's passe.

They have light spectrometers...pot has a UNIQUE spectrum of reflected light, just as all plants do. They simply overfly a grid and wait for the alrm, mark the GPS and send in the agents.

Personally, I don't get the war on pot. It's SILLY to think LEO and government can make a impact. It's available to anyone who wants to smoke it.

One has to ask, why put people in jail for it?

[JasonC]

In other words, it wasn't actually $1.2 billion worth of pot, it was 300,000 plants that might grow to that much someday. And the chief wanted a bigger headline.