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$60 million pot-plant seizure at Sugarloaf, Mt. St. Helena

Operation by Sonoma, Napa officers nets 34,000 plants in one of largest busts in recent years


By MARY CALLAHAN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 3:44 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 5:51 p.m.

Sonoma County drug agents seized nearly $60 million worth of pot plants from clandestine plots at Kenwood's Sugarloaf Ridge State Park and near Mount St. Helena.

Sonoma County Narcotics Task Force
Narcotics officers discovered two recently occupied campsites, apparently used by pot gardeners, near the marijuana plots in Sugarloaf Ridge State Park.

More than 27,000 immature plants were destroyed in a raid Tuesday in the northwest section of Sugarloaf, Sonoma County Sheriff's Sgt. Chris Bertoli said.

An additional 7,000 plants were seized on the northwest side of Mount St. Helena, bringing the total to 34,000 plants.

"Having over 20,000 plants in a single garden, that's a huge grow," Bertoli said.

The plant seizure appeared to be among the largest in recent years.

A year ago, narcotics agents seized 25,000 plants in one week at two locations in Sonoma and Mendocino counties. And in 2006, agents netted 30,000 plants over three days at four gardens around Sonoma County.

Growing pot on public lands, including parks such as Sugarloaf, has become commonplace in California. Of the nearly 3 million plants seized last year by the state's Campaign Against Marijuana Planting task force, about 75 percent were seized on publicly owned lands.

But the size of the raid, on popular parkland close to the Sonoma Valley, was unusual. The park lies only about two miles east of Highway 12, though it stretches back into the hills nearly to Napa County.

The Sugarloaf plants were spotted during aerial surveillance a couple of weeks earlier. At the time, most or all of the plants, then seedlings, appeared to be in makeshift greenhouses, Bertoli said.

They were 18 inches to 2 feet tall when, because of the rough terrain, agents were airlifted into the area Tuesday, Bertoli said. When mature, the plants could produce marijuana buds worth about $1,750 a plant in street sales.

Tuesday's raids were part of a joint operation involving the Sonoma County narcotics task force and the Napa Special Investigation Bureau, said Bertoli, who leads the Sonoma County task force.

Law enforcement agents also found two campsites near the Sugarloaf plants and evidence of several people living in each. It appeared they left hurriedly Tuesday morning, leaving behind lit candles and warm food on the tables, Bertoli said.

The gardeners probably came and went through private property off Los Alamos Road, he said.

Law enforcement personnel also observed large amounts of d-Con rodent poison around the area and found several dead field mice and squirrels, as well as one dead red fox, Bertoli said.

A natural spring had been diverted to irrigate the gardens, he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com.


Comments

  1. my3cents says...
    June 12, 2008 5:56:20 am

    Kudos to the law enforcement for their bust, and to the PD for finally printing about the animals killed and the water diversions that take place during illegal grow operations.

    If law enforcement only had the money to put extra men out to walk the forests and parks and run down the drainages, they would find many more of these gardens.

    How "earth friendly" is this?

  2. heyokus says...
    June 12, 2008 7:05:16 am

    Why were the growers allowed to escape and why is there no identification of the growers here? Chances are very good that this is just another example of our bordering jumping crime wave run amok.

  3. mreiman says...
    June 12, 2008 7:14:28 am

    Isn't there a two week limit in camping there?

  4. Bluegoose6 says...
    June 12, 2008 7:14:46 am

    There goes somebody's income for the year. Hooray!!! Good job! I am not defending illegals but if they were the ones doing the job they were hired by a bigger cartel. All you pot-smoking friends the price may go up because there is not so much around. Keep our kids clean of drugs, tobacco and alcohol.

  5. gmgbr says...
    June 12, 2008 7:15:52 am

    amigo gringo is comming let's vamanos get out of here we got to go right away. we can go down to town they won't find us once we get out of here.darn gringo's for spoiling our way of life.we will go somewhere else and start over money is good and work not that hard. better then down home and we still can go back and forth.hasta manna..

  6. railroad.1972 says...
    June 12, 2008 7:16:11 am

    Wow, look at the overnight price increase in marijuana.
    Just last night, this was only a $47 Million dollar bust. Now it's $60M.
    Sounds like pot prices are going up faster than gasoline.

  7. chuloride says...
    June 12, 2008 7:30:54 am

    Mexican gangs have been doing this . It is dangerious !They use man traps (pits or devises that kill or stop) people who might come upon the pot field - deforestsation(round up) - poison . These gangs find it easier to grow pothere than to trasport it after increase boarder security Armstrong woods Kloss reserve on the coast h

  8. hdlcx2 says...
    June 12, 2008 8:20:36 am

    Make a plant that is in high demand by a large part of the WORLDS POPULATION and the price goes up like GASOLINE. Make it illegal to grow it indoors at HOME and people go to PUBLIC PARKS. A fine example of the great WAR ON DRUGS like the fine example of BRINGINDG DEMOCRACY TO IRAQ.

  9. barryneils says...
    June 12, 2008 10:11:57 am

    Aw, we can find the goods, prosecute the offenders, pay for their prison confinement, then pay to put their families on welfare as a result of their incarceration. Why don't we admit that the marijuana laws are about as successful as the prohibition laws were in the 1920s. I am not a user, but think it is stupid to try to stamp out something that can't be stamped out. We could make the stuff legal, then tax it, rather than keeping it illegal and paying billions to enforce laws against it.

  10. kkrimmer says...
    June 12, 2008 7:46:04 pm

    The war on drugs is a total failure... better to grow up and decriminalize drugs and take the power away from the gangs, mafia, etc... There is no end in sight for this war, just lots of taxpayer money wasted.