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Big Sur Fire Threatens Agribusiness, Could Cost State Billions
The fires in Los Padres National Forest may actually be aiding one aspect of law enforcement in Monterey County: marijuana eradication.Hidden among the 80,000 acres torched by the Indians Fire so far, there could be millions of dollars worth of charred pot plants. "There are a lot of outdoor pot gardens in the forest services lands," said Sgt. Daniel Karamitis with the Sheriff's Office's narcotics unit. The forests of Monterey County have long been fertile land for large-scale pot growers who hide large quantities of their crop among the trees. Los Padres National Forest is one of the places the County of Monterey Marijuana Eradication Team often searches for the illegal crop, scanning the rugged terrain from a helicopter. The finds can be substantial. For example, in 2006, COMMET seized and destroyed more than 17,152 plants in the forest, eliminating a crop with a potential street value of $85.8 million. With the Indians and Basin Complex fires still burning, COMMET hasn't been able to do any searches in Los Padres lately, so the team has been focusing its searches elsewhere, Karamitas said. Los Padres isn't the only place for pot patches. Last month, COMMET seized 10,000 plants in Fremont Peak State Park. According to Karamitas, many of the grow sites are controlled by Mexican drug cartels. When asked what could happen to pot growers who may still be in Los Padres guarding their plants, Karamitas said, "They are grown men." Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-07-06 |
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