Pubdate: Sun, 29 Aug 2010 Source: Columbus Dispatch (OH) Copyright: 2010 The Columbus Dispatch Contact: http://www.dispatch.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/93 Author: Josh Jarman, The Columbus Dispatch Photo: Marijuana plants found this month in Pike County are burned. [Pike County Sheriff] http://www.mapinc.org/images/marijuanaburned.jpg VILLAGE ON DRUG-WAR FRONT Mexican Cartels Turn to Rural Ohio for Marijuana Operations LATHAM, Ohio -- At Thelma Jean's diner, patrons can pour their own cups of coffee before taking a seat under the faded photographs of the town's military service members lining the red-white-and-blue wallpaper. The restaurant is one of a handful of houses and businesses clinging to the sides of two-lane Rt. 124 as it wends through western Pike County, about 65 miles south of Columbus. Yet this sleepy village is on the front lines of the state's effort to combat the encroachment of Mexican drug cartels that are increasingly using rural Ohio as cropland for large, outdoor marijuana operations. Local and state law officers descended on this hillside community on Aug. 20 to stamp out one of the largest growing operations in state history. They found about 22,000 plants atop two wooded hilltops a few miles from the village. The find was so large that authorities chose to cut and burn the plants where they grew instead of trying to transport them as evidence. The operation took more than a day. "I saw the helicopters circling ... then a bunch of trucks came through town carrying four-wheelers," said Thelma Jean's owner, Ron Moore. Story continues below Advertisement It was not the first time authorities have found marijuana growing on the wooded hillsides or in cornfields around Latham, but other discoveries were nothing like the amount uncovered in the most recent bust. Moore said locals had noticed a few Latino men frequenting the town's sole gas station in recent months but didn't think much of it until they heard about the eradication effort. Authorities say the owners of the property where the plants were found knew nothing about what was happening on their land until state agents arrived. That's a familiar story to Scott Duff, special agent supervisor for the state's Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation. Mexican drug traffickers are becoming increasingly brazen in their quest to stockpile high-quality, domestically grown marijuana, he said. The crops typically are maintained by groups of workers living in camps among the marijuana plants who are supplied and supervised by the cartel. The first such operation found in the state was discovered three years ago in a state wildlife area in northern Pickaway County. State agents and county sheriffs have uncovered more than 40,000 plants this month alone, almost as many as in all of last year. Duff expects those numbers to grow in coming years. The Pike County site featured two large camps and four or five smaller camps spread out among several acres. The formerly heavily wooded area had been clear-cut several years ago, allowing ample light for the plants. Duff said it was the first time a large-scale operation was discovered that far south in Ohio. The combination of wooded, hilly terrain and good climate -- and the fact that most rural sheriffs' offices are short on staffing -- makes southern Ohio ripe for more clandestine farms. "There's no question that these are sophisticated operations," Duff said. "They're doing their homework when picking these places." Although the growing operations are becoming larger and more sophisticated, little is known about the workers who maintain them. In the three years that state and local agents have been busting such large-scale pot farms, only seven men have been arrested in connection with them. That was in 2008, when 5,000 plants were discovered growing in a thickly wooded area on the border of Muskingum and Perry counties. Of the men arrested, only one was convicted of felony drug possession. He was sentenced to six months in prison. The rest were sentenced to time served after pleading guilty to misdemeanor drug charges. Rich Isaacson, special agent with the Drug Enforcement Agency's Detroit field office, said most of the marijuana in the United States crosses the border from Mexico. But he agrees with Duff that domestic, outdoor operations are becoming more common and moving out of their traditional locations on the West Coast. Isaacson said it is impossible to say how much money such operations bring the cartels each year. But, he observed: "They put a lot of resources into them. It would be safe to assume it's a multimillion-dollar operation." Another concern for law enforcement is the increasing violence that surrounds drug traffickers' attempts to protect their crops, which has led to five shootings in northern California so far this year, he said. Duff said Ohio sites so far have not had the deadly traps and armed guards that are common in the West, but he thinks it is only a matter of time. Duff recommended that people who come across something they find suspicious leave the area and contact local authorities as quickly as possible. Because camps have been set up on both private and public property, it's hard to determine where agents will find the next large operation, but Duff is certain they will find them. "I don't think they're going away," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake