Marijuana Eradication Operation Yields another 12,480 Plants

September 4, 2007 - Santa Barbara County

Today, the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department with the assistance of CAMP (Campaign Against Marijuana Planting) and the US Forest Service eradicated a Marijuana field in the National Forest near Figueroa Mountain. This grow was one of several discovered by pilots flying fire missions for the Zaca Fire. Approximately 20 law enforcement personnel participated in the eradication efforts during today’s operation.

A total of 12,480 were seized today, bringing the total number of plants seized in Santa Barbara County this season to 95,873. The value of the plants seized this year in Santa Barbara County alone is estimated at over $306,000,000 (three hundred and six million dollars).

This has been a record year for Marijuana Eradication in Santa Barbara County.

Large-scale marijuana cultivation is a serious and increasingly widespread problem on public lands in California, including Los Padres National Forest in Santa Barbara County. These illegal operations threaten the safety of our residents and visitors to the National Forest as well as harming the environment. 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. 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.

Visitors to the National Forest or front country trails who observe individuals carrying irrigation tubing, packing in large amounts of food, the same vehicle parked in the same area multiple times per week/month should contact the Sheriff’s Department. Other signs of possible marijuana cultivation include new trails or increased use to areas where there would appear to be no attraction, or unusual loss of water flow in creeks.

For information regarding the National Forrest Service involvement in Marijuana Eradication, contact USFS PIO Kathy Good at 805-961-5759.For more information on CAMP, visit; http://ag.ca.gov/bne/camp.htm

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