Posted on 03/01/2010 8:20:22 AM PST by george76
Some Using Armed Guards, Trip Wires To Safeguard Plots.
Not far from Yosemite's waterfalls and in the middle of California's redwood forests, Mexican drug gangs are quietly commandeering U.S. public land to grow millions of marijuana plants and using smuggled immigrants to cultivate them.
Pot has been grown on public lands for decades, but Mexican traffickers have taken it to a whole new level: using armed guards and trip wires to safeguard sprawling plots that in some cases contain tens of thousands of plants offering a potential yield of more than 30 tons of pot a year.
"Just like the Mexicans took over the methamphetamine trade, they've gone to mega, monster gardens.
Local, state and federal agents found about a million more pot plants each year between 2004 and 2008, and authorities say an estimated 75 percent to 90 percent of the new marijuana farms can be linked to Mexican gangs.
In 2008 alone, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration, police across the country confiscated or destroyed 7.6 million plants from about 20,000 outdoor plots.
Growing marijuana in the U.S. saves traffickers the risk and expense of smuggling their product across the border and allows gangs to produce their crops closer to local markets.
The Sequoia National Forest in central California is covered in a patchwork of pot fields, most of which are hidden along mountain creeks and streams, far from hiking trails. It's the same situation in the nearby Yosemite, Sequoia and Redwood national parks.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedenverchannel.com ...
The bad news just keeps piling up.
I am not a Texan, nor do I live in Texas.
My apology. Here let me fix it.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "Didn't we once have an army do deal with this sort of things." We still have Texas. Maybe they could send over a Ranger or two to take care of this problem.
Oh sure, Texans take care of business. Don't mess with Texas....right?
Just a few years ago, when Bush was presidente in 2006
500,000 illegal aliens march on Dallas Texas making demands and threats while pushing foreign flags in the Texans faces.
Where exactly is the tobacco grown? The difference in your analogy is that the tobacco is all legally grown and being smuggled from one location to the other. In this case, the illegals are trying to fill the demand with the supply, which has to be grown illegally.
To put it another way, why isn’t tobacco being grown clandestinely in national parks? Probably because it is being grown legally on hundreds of thousands of acres in North Carolina/Virginia/Kentucky etc.
Very expensive? Tobacco runs for about $5 an ounce. Pot in most states runs for $300-400 an ounce. The production costs for each are roughly the same.
RIDING THE US GRAVY TRAIN---THE SAGA OF PEDRO An illegal alien w/ wife and five children violates our borders. He gets a job mowing loans for $5.00 or 6.00/hour. At that low wage, with six dependents, he pays no income tax, so each year, he files an Income Tax Return to get "EITC---earned income credit" of up to $3,200 scot-free.
He qualifies for Section 8 housing and subsidized rent. He qualifies for food stamps and no deductible, no co-pay free health care. His children get free school breakfasts and lunches. The kids qualify for monthly SSI checks by faking ADD; the illegal and his wife get SSI bu faking being aged, blind or disabled; SSI qualifies them for Medicare.
Plus illegals don't have to worry about pricey items like car insurance, life insurance, or homeowners insurance, and they qualify for relief from high energy bills.
ALL OF THAT IS COLLECTED WITH JUST ONE IDENTITY Evidence shows illegals establish several identities with phony SS nos and fake documents (which these "poor immigrants" buy from document brokers for several thousand dollars). All those phony identities vote, too.
Greedy illegals with their hands out---violate our borders, corrupt our laws----enjoy a perpetual free ride on the US gravy train.
The illegal gravy train increases tax-paying, law abiding American families' costs---state and federal taxes, homeowners and auto insurance, utilities and healthcare.
2009-05-20
DENVER -- Admitting that it may be "political suicide" former Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo said its time to consider legalizing drugs.
-snip-
Tancredo noted that he has never used drugs, but said the war has failed.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2256098/posts
(original article: http://www.thedenverchannel.com/politics/19519306/detail.html)
I thought these were all "GOOD, hard working people"?Liz, I'm going to very busy for the near future and only here occasionally, like early or on weekends. Keep on pinging me though, I'll read them all asap.
and...
"Their family values don't stop at the Rio Grande."
And....
"They're a very religious and law abiding people."
Excuse me...?
Good time to legalize marijuana.
They would be gone in a flash.
ping
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