Posted on 08/11/2007 11:55:40 AM PDT by AuntB
(Medford, Or) - Much of the day Friday, a helicopter brought out load after load of marijuana plants from hillsides in the Applegate... more than 10,000 plants, according to Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters.
Winters says marijuana retails for about 5-thousand dollars a pound, street value. He says last year his department confiscated 27.6 tons of marijuana.
The grows are not just valuable. They're also dangerous. Law enforcement officers say the grow is most likely part of a Mexican drug cartel. Winters says members of the cartel will fight in a gun battle to protect their crop... and to try to stay out of federal prison if they're caught.
Also, many hunting seasons begin soon, and hunters will be out in the woods right when the marijuana crop is at its fullest and at its highest value. Siskiyou County Sheriff Rick Riggins says his department has been working to bring awareness to communities that the grows are out there in the woods.
Riggins also says drugs like pot and meth are connected. He says "some people say to me its just marijuana... well it is but it is also very dangerous to the people out in the woods and it also funds illegal activity... and these guys are also doing meth."
In addition to the four men already in custody... investigators believe one man is still at large... and he is considered armed and dangerous.
Everyday we hear of one of these stories in the Pac. NW and many other states. Last week Dallas, near Chicago, etc. etc. All Mexican Drug Cartel, many MS-13 and awol Mexican Military. Some of the peasant 'growers' brought in illegally are 'held' until the crop is in.
photos of these grows and the destruction to our national heritage here:
http://towncriernews.blogspot.com/2006/09/mexican-border-has-moved-800-miles.html
$5,000 a pound?? Ha!
“It’s a plant, KILL IT!!”
Just another very good reason to decriminalize marijuana...
Interesting, no suspect names...
How odd.
Legalize it.
Well, if any of the names were “Smith” or “Jones” I guess they’d be in there.
More on the same subject TODAY (So much for the sovereignty of a Native American Reservation):
Raid yields 40,000 pot plants on reservation [snip]
By The Associated Press
YAKIMA In one of the biggest marijuana raids ever reported in Washington state, drug investigators said they seized about 40,000 pot plants in a closed area of the Yakama Indian Reservation.
Wiley did not give an estimated value for the haul but said high-quality marijuana is worth about $2,000 a pound and a good plant has about a pound of pot, which could make the confiscated marijuana worth as much as $80 million.
The discovery boosted the total amount of marijuana seized in about a week and a half of the helicopter operations to nearly 80,000 plants in Yakima, Klickitat, Benton and Skamania counties.
In the wake of the year’s largest previous haul, 11,000 plants, also on the Yakama reservation, Wiley said it was “Mexican drug-trafficking organizations growing out there and not members of the tribe.” Tribal leaders “are working very hard to get this activity off their lands,” he said.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003831497_potraid11m.html
Marijua?
Use of this illegal drug can lead to bad spelling
More Today:
Massive marijuana garden discovered in Humboldt County
DINSMORE, Calif. (AP) —
In the biggest pot bust in Humboldt County history, authorities seized more than 134,000 marijuana plants worth an estimated $469 million, law enforcement officials said.
The plants, ranging from one to three feet tall, were discovered on federal and private timberland along the county’s eastern edge north of Dinsmore, according to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department.
The plants, which were spotted during surveillance flights, were eradicated over the past week by county, state and federal officers.
No arrests were made during the raid, but investigators believe a Mexican drug cartel was behind the massive growing operation.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/08/10/state/n160119D36.DTL&type=politics
Threads like this are always good for bring out the FR closet dopers.
Just like the other day, when the Mayor of Newark declined to say of the suspect in the execution style murders of three students was an illegal. It turns out he was of course.
L
More Today! (Teddy Roosevelt is rolling in his grave)
http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_222151030.html
Marijuana Plants Found In Angeles National Forest
VIDEO: Watch The Latest News
SLIDESHOWS: View The Day’s Top Photos
(CBS) ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. Investigators involved in a “marijuana abatement” operation found up to 10,000 pot plants growing in the Angeles National Forest and were removing them Friday, officials said.
The operation was being conducted by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the California Department of Forestry, said sheriff’s Lt. Joe Nunez.
“It’s a routine marijuana abatement operation,” Nunez said.
There were no arrests, and the investigation was ongoing, Nunez said.
The grow was in the Vogel Flats area north of Tujunga.
It was unclear who was growing the plants in the remote area, but large operations such as this one could be operated by illegal immigrants on behalf of Mexican drug cartels, Nunez said.
(And believe me, it’s clear enough when it’s Mexican Nationals growing)
I can't stand it when my closets have been doping. They get all jumbled and disorganized, and are constantly raiding the pantry.
If it is a politician caught, and they don’t say his party, you have to assume the (D).
If it is a run-of-the-mill criminal who is caught, and they don’t mention his name, you have to assume he is illegal.
There are no illegals. There’s just folks coming here to work. That’s why there’s no need for border security. Everybody’s just folks looking to better their lives.
No doubt, and we know the Mexican gangs and Mexican drug cartels are now assisting terrorist.
I tend to agree with others. We could put a stop to a lot of the Mexican drug cartel crap asap if they would legalize small amounts for personal use, or legalize growing one or two plants. The only reason it's going for
$5,000 a pound, is because the government made it illegal. 5k for a pound of weed? LOL!
BINGO!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.