Striking close to home.......Drug Bust

[midger]

I saw a couple of posts on other sites about using caution when travelling in parts of California where the marijuana "farmers" are active. I even received a call from Bernard when I was in Idaho warning me of an incident where a friend of his was confronted at gunpoint in the Big Bear area on another watershed I frequent, but don't fish in the late summer.

Well, yesterday there was a major bust about 5-6 miles from my house. 9000 plants, estimated $28 mil street value. 3 Mexican nationals arrested. Apparently irrigating using waters from my local fishing Creek or a subsidiary stream to it. Bottomline: This IS HARVEST SEASON. Use extreme caution and it is probably best not to fish alone, or at least make them think you are not alone. It is sad we have to worry about these types of things, but I'm sure nobody likes looking down the barrel of any type of weapon, and this is a serious business for the growers.

[Eric]

Thanks for the warning Mike.
Eric

[anacrime]

so close to home

my thought is that they will not kill you under ordinary circumstances. a man hunt is the last thing they'd want

[anacrime]

to add, this is absolutely ridiculous

"Investigators had been conducting aerial surveillance over the canyon below Heap’s Peak for about three months, officials said."

this is absolute BS. they do this crap to maximize arrests while leaving the public in danger. ethics, anyone? it's absurd.

[rayfound]

That's scary, but I fear its the reality - big, high profile busts, at the risk of leaving the public at risk while they build their case.

On the other hand, go in with too little info, too little intelligence, and not get arrests or have them fall through in court - and the same scumbags are back in action next summer.

So there is 2 sides to this coin - but I can't imagine a way to really justify allowing armed drug runners to be simply watched while they occupy an area the public frequents for recreation.

[Wildman]

This was the 33rd Pot Farm bust on the the San Bernardino National Forest this year alone. Trying to keep find...track...coordinate with local law enforcement and bust these cretins is an overwhelming job and the Forest Service just got allocated an additional 40 million (from Sen. Diane Feinsten, I believe) just for dealing with the farms on national Forests in California. It takes a lot of manpower just to monitor one farm and this is not the only area that they are responsible for. Using helicopters to spot pot farms and monitor them is pretty standard procedure around the West.

The San Bernardino National Forest has a number of law enforcement types in training that will go online this Fall (funded through the 40 million) and they will be available next season to assist with cleaning the vermin out. The problem is just as severe on the Angeles, Cleavland and all points North. We had firefighter warnings on the North Mountain Fire near Yosemite this June and in Medford, Oregon when I was up there last month.

For the most part....80 % of those of us (myself included) who read and contribute to this board would probably never be at risk. There is a small group of folks who explore the tiny blue lines on the maps in the hidden, difficult to access, and very remote places for wild trout that could be impacted by coming upon these farms. My world is/has changed rapidly since the 50's when I did the complete John Muir and we never saw another human being on the trail except those in our Scout Troop.

[anacrime]

Jim maybe you can answer this: Why do they allow a crime to go on for months before a bust? It's like letting an attempted murderer keep attempting to murder hoping he succeeds so you can get him for the big offense. It's the same thing here. By letting these plantations exist they are allowing men with automatic weapons commit crimes and patrol the areas WE call home. I hope the issue isn't purely budgetary b/c that is an unreasonable excuse IMO.

For what it's worth, someone has been reporting trash dumps and increased traffic on a certain stream for years now and they still haven't made the move to take it down. It's simply absurd IMO.

[RubiKinda]

Why do they allow a crime to go on for months before a bust?

These guys plant their goods and leave them for months with only quick trips to fertilize and water their crops at night. Now is harvest time when they are most vulnerable to be caught making in and out rus.

Forest Service just got allocated an additional 40 million (from Sen. Diane Feinsten, I believe) just for dealing with the farms on national Forests in California

She didn't give them the $$, we did. The amount is 3.6 million dollars and for State Parks not national forests. Actually, $746,000 was allocated to the drug problen, the rest is for the eradication of the Elk and Mule Deer on Santa Rosa Island to eliminate the hunting program there.

[Wildman]

I can't speak to the specific tactics and stratagy in these cases. I know several of the LEO's on different Forests but we don't discuss shop when we get together to ride horses or do projects together. I do know that Law Enforcement frequently will allow a case to build (car thieves...Sting Fence shops, etc) while they monitor the activity to
build a solid case. Last year, Sen Feinstein did secure 40 Million for the Forest Service because of the Pot Farm problem to hire 80 additional Law Enforcement folks on the West coast....bring in sophisticated equipment like the Predator (which can pinpoint the groves in early stages with their incredible optical equipment). Many of the folks are just coming on line now and being deployed on the various forests. The three recent busts in the San Bernardino's had a street value of $60 million plus and two of the sites were guarded by armed men in camos. Did they use the Predator to find them? They're not talking.

I don't have any good answers other then my dismay and disgust that this is happening 30 minutes from our ranch. I will ask some of my friends why they surveil rather then just going in and pulling the plants when discovered.

I spent two years in RVN wearing camo and sneaking around and really don't like the thought of having our own Viet Cong waiting to ambush me as I try to catch a dinky wild trout that I am going to put back anyway. I do know I will pick and choose where I go locally until after October and the growing season is complete.

[Papasequoia]

Well, yesterday there was a major bust about 5-6 miles from my house. 9000 plants, estimated $28 mil street value.

Hmm, I seem to remember earlier this year while you were showing me around your home waters that you disappeared for awhile then suddenly reappeared and looked very "happy." At the time you said it was because you had gotten some nice fish. Now I'm not so sure....

Seriously thought, thanks for the warning and reminder. It's best to keep one's wits about them in remote areas for lots of reasons, this being one of them.

On a side note, lots of people got shot during Prohibition in the 1920's. Maybe it's time to legalize marijuana? I pretty much quit smoking pot around 30 years ago, but I still drink alcohol which I consider more dangerous. Just an observation.

[anacrime]

Why do they allow a crime to go on for months before a bust?

These guys plant their goods and leave them for months with only quick trips to fertilize and water their crops at night. Now is harvest time when they are most vulnerable to be caught making in and out rus.

i'm pretty sure some live there for months at a time, or at least extended periods of time. someone mentioned a pile of used propane tanks they found and also trash dumps.

how often does marijuana need to be watered/fertilized?

[gabe]

time to go poach. ha!

[Benny]

time to go poach. ha!

*! Poaching Pot Now! First honey holes and now someones secret stash...ATC watch out...j/k

[anacrime]

I don't blame law enforcement one bit for getting all the investigative documentation they can, then jumping on the bad guys backs after they collect everything needed to prosecute their asses.

What if a fly fisherman was killed by marijuana growers with automatic weapons while fishing their favorite local stream? Would it still be worth it? This is a VERY real scenario.

[midger]

Why do they allow a crime to go on for months before a bust?

These guys plant their goods and leave them for months with only quick trips to fertilize and water their crops at night. Now is harvest time when they are most vulnerable to be caught making in and out rus.

I don't know about the other sites discovered, but this certainly wasn't the case in this bust. There were numerous camping sites, garbage strewn about, and a definate human presence. As dry as it is up here, I suspect the plants require watering often. I also don't understand why they'd wait to arrest. The folks they have arrested so far are illegals and they could have figured this out, deported them and erradicated the crop. They also stated that much of it had already been harvested--why'd they wait for this to get into channels?

As far as being confronted by armed perps, this was in an area rarely fished, even by me and I spend a lot of time in the area. I'll certainly avoid that area for a while.

And Jon, I'm always happy. No MJ required.