Posted on 08/17/2009 9:15:33 AM PDT by AuntB
But 'gardeners' escape; pot-grow cooking fire blamed for S. Calif. wildfire
From KTVZ.COM news sources
Days after tribal police and federal agents seized 1,630 marijuana plants worth an estimated $5 million from a remote area of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, authorities in California said Sunday a more than 85,000-acre wildfire in Santa Barbara County had been traced to a cooking fire at an illegal marijuana grow.
Friday's Warm Springs raid marked the fourth time in just over two years that police have busted a major pot grow on the reservation, tied to Mexican drug gangs. The total seized - more than 32,000 plants - have an estimated value of $38.5 million, Warm Springs Police Chief Carmen Smith told The Oregonian, which was allowed to accompany the interagency raid.
"Outdoor pot seizures are common in late summer months across much of Oregon, as growers prepare to harvest one of the state's leading - although illegal - cash crops," the newspaper reported, but cannabis cultivation on the 1,019-square-mile Warm Springs Reservation and other native lands across the region "has reached epic proportions."
Smith told The Oregonian that the Mexican drug cartels have picked Northwest tribal lands because they are remote, mountainous and offer little human traffic, while police agencies on the reservations focus their slim resources on policing more populated areas.
Mexican growers have infiltrated the Warm Springs reservation by taking girlfriends who live there, scouting remote spots and setting up camps in areas that have little if any human traffic, the police chief said.
Because of that inaccessibility, tribal police have flown in Oregon Army National Guard helicopters to find marijuana grows from the air. Police spotted the one where Friday's raid occurred about a month ago and since then had kept watch on what appeared to be a group of Hispanic men tending the marijuana.
The area is so overgrown, it took police three hours to make it 500 yards to the grow site along Jefferson Creek, on the reservation's southwest corner. But the growers apparently heard them coming, and fled without being seen - even finding a hose apparently dropped in a hurry by someone who had been watering the plants.
Later in the day, a helicopter lifted three cargo nets full of marijuana plants - about a ton - out of the forest. Having been photographed and documented, they were on their way to be destroyed, said Warm Springs Det. John Webb.
As for the California case, authorities said the La Brea fire began in a cooking area of a pot farm, and believe those responsible are trying to escape the forest on foot. Their location is unknown, but authorities warned "not to approach anyone who looks suspicious but to instead contact the nearest law enforcement agency."
A statement from the Los Padres National Forest said "The Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Narcotics Unit has confirmed that the camp at the origin of the fire was an illegal marijuana operation believed to be run by a Mexican national drug organization."
Smith told The Oregonian that the Mexican drug cartels have picked Northwest tribal lands because they are remote, mountainous and offer little human traffic,"
See also:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2317334/posts 85,000 Acre California Fire, still burning caused by Mexican Drug Cartels - confirmed!
“We just smiled an waved/Sittin’ on that sack of seeds....Y’all come back now you hear.”
dang . . .
When did “grow” become a noun? I must not have been paying attention.
“When did “grow” become a noun? I must not have been paying attention.”
About the same time that the Mexican Drug Cartels took over our national parks, forests and reservations.
For all the talk and $ that this government is giving Mexico to fight their ‘narco terrorists’, one would think they might
start here on our own lands to cut off the funds keeping these cartels alive.
It’s common. It could be termed a “growing season”, meaning the time it takes to bring the plants to fruition and all the attendant effort required to do so, or more aptly a “growing operation”, shortened to “grow op”.
Some of the plants they’ve cut around here are 15 to 20 ft tall. Lots of money on each of those.
A note from Mike Cutler on this:
Hi Gang:
I have attached an article that appears on the CNN website that includes a link to a broadcast version of the news report concerning the fires that are plaguing California, threatening massive destruction of property and endangering lives.
Succinctly stated, some of these dangerous fires are apparently being traced to the cultivation of large numbers of marijuana plants by members of the Mexican drug cartels operating inside our country. The news report I watched on CNN today also noted that often these cartel members are known to be heavily armed. The news report went on to talk about how these individuals use propane tanks to cook their food because they fear that a traditional campfire would generate smoke that would be easy for law enforcement to spot. It is theorized that one of these fires got out of control resulting in at least one of the major fires that fire fighters are battling.
The news report makes clear the amount of damage that the fire started by the drug gang members has caused- to quote from the article:
In Southern California’s Santa Barbara County, a weeklong blaze has charred more than 84,000 acres, investigators said. The fire originated at an illegal marijuana camp believed to be run by a Mexican drug organization, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Narcotics Unit said in a news release Saturday night.
In addition to damage that these fires have caused, imagine the huge financial costs associated with the valiant efforts of the firefighters to combat the fire that has burned more than 84,000 acres, especially at a time when California is already suffering insolvency.
The report further noted that these cartel members were growing millions of marijuana plants inside our national parks! Stop and think about this- while this is not a new situation, the idea that drug traffickers would be inhabiting our national parks, growing marijuana and carrying weapons while their mere presence in our country is a violation of law is nothing short of an outrage!
These criminals are heavily armed in order to protect their crops. Imagine what would happen if a hapless family stumbled upon these thugs and found themselves staring down the barrels of their guns. I cannot imagine such a situation would result in a “happy ending!”
Our nation has been and continues to be infiltrated by criminals from various countries owing to a failure of our nation to secure its borders and create an immigration system that has the resources and the commitment to enforce the immigration laws from within the interior of our nation.
As I have often noted, “A nation without secure borders can no more stand than can a house without walls!”
When will the time come when the concerns of the citizens of our nation will be taken into account by our elected “representatives?”
I would remind you that the difference between an immigrant and an illegal alien is comparable to the difference between a houseguest and a burglar!
In less than two years each and every member of the House of Representatives is up for reelection. In less than two years more than one third of the members of the United States Senate will have to face their constituents. They need to be reminded that they work for us, We the People!
To borrow a phrase: The politicians are either with us, or they are against us! There is no “wiggle room” here- not when the stakes are so high!
The large scale apathy demonstrated by citizens of this nation has emboldened elected representatives to all but ignore the needs of the average American citizen in a quest for massive campaign funds and the promises of votes to be ostensibly delivered by special interest groups. There is much that we cannot do but there is one thing that We the People absolutely must do- we must stop sitting on the sidelines!
The collective failure of We the People to get involved in make our concerns known to our politicians have nearly made the concerns of the great majority of the citizens of this nation all but irrelevant to the politicians.
I implore you to get involved!
We live in a perilous world and in a perilous era. The survival of our nation and the lives of our citizens hang in the balance
This is neither a Conservative issue, nor is it a Liberal issue- simply stated, this is most certainly an AMERICAN issue!
You are either part of the solution or you are a part of the problem!
Democracy is not a spectator sport!
Lead, follow or get out of the way!
-michael cutler-
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/16/california.fires/
[snip]LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — Dry conditions and strong winds in California left much of the state vulnerable to massive fires, with blaze-starters ranging from a cooking fire at a drug trafficking operation to a bird flying into a power line.
If each plant is really valued at $3k, how on earth does anyone expect this to stop?
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