Law enforcement agencies have wrapped up their annual marijuana eradication efforts in local rural regions, ultimately destroying nearly 60,000 plants—a new low for such local efforts in the past decade. The task force, spearheaded by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department with support from the Department of Justice’s Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP), the U.S. Forest Service, and other law enforcement agencies, began its annual effort in July. Task force members focused mainly on the Los Padres National Forest, which has become a hotbed for illicit grows in past years.
All told, authorities identified and destroyed 17 grows in rural Santa Barbara County in 2011, resulting in the eradication of almost 60,000 plants, which officials estimate are worth approximately $120 million. That’s $2,000 per plant in street prices, Sheriff’s Department spokesman Drew Sugars said.
No arrests were made in relation to these grows during the eradication season, as the crooked farmers were long-gone by the time authorities arrived.
CAMP is the largest law enforcement task force in the nation. Managed by the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, the group focuses on stopping illegal marijuana cultivation and trafficking in California.
CAMP’s eradication efforts hit an all-time high in 2009 when authorities seized more than 4.4 million plants, worth approximately $8.9 billion. This year, however, the budget signed by Gov. Jerry Brown would completely eliminate the state’s involvement in the task force.
“We’ve definitely seen a decline [in marijuana destroyed] over the last couple years,” Sugars said.
He noted, however, that there has been a spike in similar efforts in Ventura County, but he could not say for certain whether that was because of Santa Barbara County’s efforts.
Sheriff’s Department officials say that the large-scale cultivation of marijuana in rural locales is a widespread problem, especially in public lands such as Los Padres.
They say that the growers—who they suspect have ties to drug cartels in Mexico, based on evidence found at grow sites—threaten public safety and harm the environment. Sugars said abandoned grows have contained heaps of garbage, human waste, and unregulated pesticides, much of which seeps into ground water and streams.
Also, many growers use campfires in high-fire danger areas. Marijuana cultivators are blamed for the 2009 La Brea fire, which burned more than 90,000 acres in Northern Santa Barbara County.
Sugars also said visitors to the parks have been threatened in the past. In 2010, a pair of backpackers in Cuyama Valley stumbled upon a grow and were subsequently followed back to their car by two individuals who were arrested but later released for lack of evidence.
Authorities urge anyone who suspects an illicit grow to contact authorities at 681-4175 or weedinfo@sbsheriff.org.
This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 3, 2011.
