Large Marijuana Farm Discovered on Government Land
June 15th, 2009 by Rick
The largest marijuana bust discovery, in the history of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office occurred last week, when more than 22,000 marijuana plants were discovered in a San Francisco Water District. Where the water runoff feeds into the Calaveras Reservoir, a couple of nearby creeks had water lines going from them, flowing underground into 24 marijuana gardens, along with three camp sites and three kitchens.
When deputies found the gardens, two young looking men wearing woodland camouflage, were seen working in the gardens. Both men fled into deep ravines and thick brush and evaded capture, although a semi-automatic hand gun was apparently dropped by one of the men.
The investigation into the gardens began when a tip came through to them that said that a teenage looking boy, wearing camoflauge was seen running up a creek bed. Oh, if only camouflage in real life was as reliable as it is in Call of Duty.
More Pot Farms Popping Up in National Parks
May 15th, 2009 by RickDespite seizing around five million marijuana plants in California in 2008, more and more pot farms are being found on public land, with an increase of them being discovered in national parks.
NPR reports that the cultivation of cannabis were found in at least six national parks on the West Coast, the latest being the North Cascades National Park in Washington state, where last summer a pot field was raided. Even in Yosemite, one of the most famous of the national parks, they’ve began searching the terrain for the ganja.
Typically, the design of outdoor pot farms are the same; an area cut from a hillside – camouflaged by trees, an irrigation technique that taps into a nearby water source and makeshift living arrangements for the growers themselves.
Mostly, the growers escape capture from law enforcement and they say that these aren’t solo projects of some random marijuana farmer. More and more reports come in that the pot fields located within national parks are part of a much larger drug network. One Mexican drug ring family, the Barragans, dealt in crystal meth but also had a “side” business of cultivating marijuana across several western states. The leaders never got their hands dirty – family and other Mexican citizens were employed to run the farms and move their product.
The chief ranger in Yosemite, Steve Shackelton, said:
People coming to Yosemite shouldn’t fear this problem. Our job is to ensure that their visit is a safe visit, and we will ensure that. We do ensure that.
With the drug cartels or even the campesinos (disposable workers) being on the public land, concern is growing that innocent citizens visiting the parks will be at risk of the growers desire to keep their weed a secret by any means necessary.
UK Police Mistakes Private Workshop for Weed Farm
March 3rd, 2009 by Silvio
A police helicopter of the West Yorkshire, UK Police picked up a heat pattern from a house, and the authorities assumed they discovered a so-called “cannabis factory.” British officers didn’t waste any time, and after the necessary search warrant was obtained, they sent a team to the house in question to further investigate.
And further investigate they did. The fact that the door was locked and the bars on the windows must have aroused suspicions. After all, who keeps his doors locked if he has nothing to hide, right?
So they kicked down the door, and turned the place upside down. And what looked like the heat signature of a high profile marijuana grow OP from 1000 feet, turned out to be a stove in the workshop of Rowe, 41, a college technician and model citizen with no former convictions whatsoever.
When Rowe returned home, he didn’t find any officers explaining anything to him, just a kicked down door, and a mess in his workshop. The police did however state later, they left the door in a “secure state” when they left, probably to prevent a break-in. They also agreed to pay £200 for repairs.
Grow Pot, Save a Tree
March 2nd, 2009 by Perry
Treehugger points out on their blog that legalization is not only good for environmentalists, it’s also good for the environment, too. Earlier last year, tFS wrote about how renegade pot farms could be a detriment to the environment.
Treehugger has a good point in that, not only would legalization eliminate the need to use potentially harmful chemicals in a clandestine fashion, with all the money made from the taxation of marijuana the state’s No. 1 cash crop, we can buy a new rainforest and just throw money at environmental problems.
Just kidding, they don’t say that at all. But seriously, DrugScience estimates 7.6 million pounds of marijuana was grown — and that’s only counting outdoors.
Lessons Learned from a Pot Farm
January 12th, 2009 by Alex
COED Magazine, a web-based publication that hits topics 18-24 years olds are into, recently wrote about an experience working on a pot farm in Mendocino County.
The author covers some of the misconceptions about working on the marijuana cultivation business (longhand for pot farm), and even has comments on the more tedious tasks involved in weed farming – like trimming.
I can say from experience, trimming is almost worse than waiting for the crops to grow. Nothing is stickier than fresh weed plants and the frustration of gumming up your shears constantly is not made any easier by the fact that you know as soon as your done you’ll have to wait several more days for drying.
Then again, there are few things better than smoking a fat bowl of your own fresh herbs. If you live in the Bay Area and are trying to get your own job on the farms, this small list of true/false might just help you out.
