Pubdate: Thu, 26 Aug 2010
Source: Union, The (Grass Valley, CA)
Copyright: 2010 The Union
Contact: http://apps.theunion.com/utils/forms/lettertoeditor/
Website: http://www.theunion.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/957
Author: Liz Kellar, The Union

POT GARDENS: STATE, FEDERAL AUTHORITIES FOCUS ON PUBLIC LAND GROW SITES

Federal and state authorities are "swamped" with cases after targeting
pot growers on public lands, said a spokeswoman from the U.S.
Attorney's Office.

"It's harvest season," said spokeswoman Lauren Horwood. "We have raids
going on almost every day."

This week alone, more than 20,000 marijuana plants were eradicated at
three grow sites on U.S. Forest Service land near Graniteville, north
of Nevada City. Although the sites were being tended, no workers were
apprehended during the raids.

But federal authorities have been focusing on large-scale marijuana
gardens farmed by Mexican nationals, in particular in Fresno County,
and have arrested dozens of suspects in the last few months.

"Unfortunately, the cultivation of marijuana in California has
proliferated exponentially in the Sierra foothills and mountains,"
said U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner in a prepared statement. "The
dangers and hazards associated with the cultivation of marijuana on
public lands cannot be overstated. Marijuana growers are clearing
large expanses of land, diverting natural water sources to grow and
harvest super-sized marijuana crops, and polluting forests and streams
with harmful and often illegal pesticides and fertilizers.

"In addition, to protect their lucrative crop, the growers often arm
themselves with dangerous weapons and pose a danger not only to law
enforcement but to recreational hikers, campers, and other persons who
use federal and state lands," Wagner said in the statement.

In the most recent case, a Reedley man was sentenced Monday to six and
a half years in prison for providing food, supplies and workers to a
pot-growing operation in the Sierra National Forest.

Arturo Lemus Saldana, 20, had pleaded guilty to transporting food,
supplies, fertilizer, drip line, ammunition and workers to a major
marijuana grow on public land.

He also was ordered to pay $25,941 in restitution for clean-up and
restoration costs for the grow site south of Yosemite, where more than
49,000 marijuana plants were discovered. Five other men have been
charged in that operation, some of whom are illegal aliens.

On Aug. 7, 12 Mexican nationals in the country illegally were charged
in what authorities call a major marijuana operation in El Dorado and
Placer counties.

The operation allegedly financed two large marijuana plots, one on
federal Bureau of Land Management land in western El Dorado County and
one on Clementine State Park near Auburn in Placer County. Significant
environmental damage connected to the marijuana grows was found in
both locations, including clear-cutting, stream diversion and illegal
pesticides, according to U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott.

On July 22, Jose Andres Prieto Rodriguez, 30, and Jose Rodrigo
Rodriguez Vidal, 19, both citizens of Mexico, were charged with
manufacturing more than 1,000 marijuana plants on federal land under
the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management in Yolo County.

The multi-agency prosecutions are "designed not just to pull the
plants, but to run the investigation side," said state Bureau of
Narcotic Enforcement Special Agent Michelle Gregory. "The goal is to
identify not just the growers, but move up the chain, getting everyone
involved from top to bottom."

And that includes suppliers and even the women who drive up to the
grow locations with their children in tow, to drop off supplies,
Gregory said.

"We're serving warrants in the neighborhoods, too," Gregory said.
"They are living in the communities; they're shopping there, their
kids are going to school there, and yet they're involved in this
criminal activity." 
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