Pubdate: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 Source: Chico Enterprise-Record (CA) Copyright: 2000 The Media News Group Contact: (530) 342-3617 Address: P.O. Box 9, Chico, CA 95927 Website: http://www.chicoer.com/ Author: David A. Andersen, staff writer for the Oroville Mercury-Register. MARIJUANA GARDEN POTENTIALLY WORTH $40 MILLION DESTROYED FEATHER FALLS - Sheriff's deputies harvested a massive marijuana garden Wednesday morning, nabbing 10,237 plants that police valued at an estimated $40 million at maturity. The garden was found in steep and remote terrain beyond Feather Falls. The well-established plot with two live-in camps was discovered by deputy James Marshall, a helicopter pilot for the Butte County Sheriff's Office. The site is near a garden of 7,805 plants discovered two weeks ago that police claim was worth $24 million. The land of both confiscated gardens is owned by Sierra Pacific Industries. The garden has been under surveillance for about two weeks. "The plants started to wither, so we figured they fled," Sgt. David Panchesson of the Butte County Sheriff's Office Special Enforcement Unit said. The coordinated drug enforcement team included the state Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP), Butte County Sheriff's Office Marijuana Eradication Unit, the Butte County Special Incident Response Team and the Special Enforcement Unit, as well as the National Guard. "This is not the first season. This is a very large and very established operation, maybe been here for five or six years," said Sonja Barna, Operations Commander, Department of Justice. Carefully cleared growing areas protected from aerial observation by the forest canopy stretched several football fields in length. A lot of time had been invested in the rustic tables, platforms and chairs made of hand-carved poles lashed together. A lookout platform was crudely constructed. Nine sleeping bags and food stores for several months were confiscated. Armor-piercing bullets and rifle ammunition was discovered. Human-size scarecrow dummies were found, complete with black tape and duct tape weapons in their hands. The helicopter airlifted loads of about 500 pounds at a time out of the garden and up to a clear area where the marijuana could be transported to the Sheriff's Office for incineration. With the helicopter, a normal two-day operation was accomplished in about six hours. At maturity each plant yields approximately a pound of marijuana to sell at a price of $3,500 to $4,000. In full operation now for about three weeks, the CAMP activities in the state have netted more than 70,126 plants at an estimated value of more than $280 million. "We believe this is the same group as the last one," said Panchesson. "We do have some names we're researching." - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk