Marijuana eradication efforts yield results

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

The record number of marijuana plants eradicated from remote parts of Santa Barbara County continued to mount on Monday, when the Sheriff’s Department seized 6,345 plants east of Highway 154 below East Camino Cielo.
Monday’s eradication effort brings the county’s total number of seized plants during 2007 to 102,218, a record number that law enforcement officials say caries an estimated street value of more than $327 million.


Sgt. Erik Raney, a spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, said each mature marijuana plant can yield up to a pound of marijuana. As a result, he said each plant has an approximate worth of about $3,200.
So why the record number of seized plants?
Raney said an increase of aircraft traffic during the nearly two-months-long Zaca Fire is one reason the number of confiscated plants has spiked this summer.
Raney said Zaca Fire pilots spotted at least six illegal marijuana grows during the blaze.
“This has been a record year for marijuana eradication in Santa Barbara County,” Raney said. “The Sheriff’s Department will continue to eradicate grows as they are discovered throughout the year.”
Another possible cause of this year’s increase in marijuana stings, Raney speculated, are the drought conditions that have swept across Southern California.
He said the chaparral and grasses in the foothills and in the back country have taken on a drier tone of brown than in past years, and as a result, the green, often irrigated marijuana plants have become more visible from the air.
“They’re relatively sophisticated operations,” Raney said.
He said CAMP (Campaign Against Marijuana Planting), a statewide contingency of law enforcement agencies, and the DEA assisted with Monday’s operation. Raney said the marijuana plants were not located near any homes.
Raney said CAMP has assisted with the eradication of three different marijuana grows in the county so far. In past years, Raney said CAMP moves from county to county providing their services for predetermined amounts of time, but this year they’ve been able to spend more time in Santa Barbara County.
By combining with CAMP on marijuana eradication missions, Raney said the Sheriff’s Department doesn’t have to drain its resources to the extent it normally would.
Raney said the increase in marijuana grows throughout California pose a threat to residents and visitors to the National Forests.
“Marijuana plantations are very often the work of dangerous drug cartels, and forest visitors or residents who happen upon them may be harassed or assaulted,” Raney said. “The growers are usually armed, sometimes with automatic weapons and high-power rifles, and they have been known to place booby-traps designed to seriously maim or kill intruders.”
Also on Monday, Raney said an eradication project in San Bernardino County turned violent when law enforcement officials were involved in a shoot out with armed suspects.
But the illegal grows and their negative impacts aren’t limited to people. Raney said they have a devastating impact on the environment.
He said the growers often clear swaths of land, block streams and small rivers to supply their irrigation systems and leave behind trash and other waste.
“It’s not just the green leafy, fun loving substance people think it is,” Raney said. “It’s a dangerous substance.”