$28 MILLION POT FARM UPROOTED NEAR MALIBU.Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer MALIBU CREEK STATE PARK Coordinates: Malibu Creek State Park is a California state park near Malibu, in Calabasas. It opened to the public in 1980, using property purchased from 20th Century Fox that the studio had owned since 1946 along with adjoining properties. - Calling it the largest single seizure of a marijuana crop in local history, Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County sheriff's deputies Tuesday ripped out thousands of plants - with a street value of $28 million - from remote Malibu canyons. The bumper crop In agriculture, a bumper crop refers to a particularly good harvest yielded for a particular crop. Example: "With all the rain we've had over the last few months, we are expecting a bumper crop this year. , nourished by abundant water sources from record rainfall this season, contained an estimated 28,700 plants over half a square mile. Deputies with the Marijuana Enforcement Team were tipped off to the massive crop, but no arrests were made and they found no sign of encampments. A water line connected to a pond had been installed to irrigate ir·ri·gate v. To wash out a cavity or wound with a fluid. the crop. The plants, most of them 6 feet tall, were just a week or two away from harvesting and grew deep into the canyons of the park, about a mile south of Malibu Lake near Crags Drive. ``This is the sixth illegal growth we've found this year, but so far this is the largest single growth in MET's (14-year) history,'' said Lt. Pete Fosselman. ``The deputies that were up there said in one or two weeks, it would have all been harvested and gone.'' Deputies packed the plants into 200-pound bundles and hauled them out of the canyons. They noted that many of the buds, the most valuable part of the plant, had already been removed by the growers. ``In the entire Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. (Mountains) range, there is prime real estate for people to grow marijuana,'' said Sgt. Ken Davidson, narcotics narcotics n. 1) techinically, drugs which dull the senses. 2) a popular generic term for drugs which cannot be legally possessed, sold, or transported except for medicinal uses for which a physician or dentist's prescription is required. detective for the Lost Hills-Malibu Station. Authorities say growers have expanded operations over the years and have moved from indoor cultivating to planting in remote areas on public land. This year's rainfalls have produced more running creeks, which makes it easier for growers to install irrigation irrigation, in agriculture, artificial watering of the land. Although used chiefly in regions with annual rainfall of less than 20 in. (51 cm), it is also used in wetter areas to grow certain crops, e.g., rice. systems to the plants, Davidson said. Before Tuesday's confiscation confiscation In law, the act of seizing property without compensation and submitting it to the public treasury. Illegal items such as narcotics or firearms, or profits from the sale of illegal items, may be confiscated by the police. Additionally, government action (e.g. , a total of 42,000 marijuana plants had been seized by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department This article is about the Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department, not to be confused with the smaller Los Angeles County Police The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) is a local law enforcement agency that serves Los Angeles County, California. this year, including in the Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) was established by executive order on December 20, 1892 as the San Gabriel Timberland Reserve. It covers over 2,600 km² (650,000 acres) and is located in the San Gabriel Mountains of Los Angeles County, just north of the metropolitan area of Los . Drug enforcement officials say growers have moved onto public lands more readily, able to access sophisticated irrigation systems. And the businesses are becoming more sophisticated, said Jose Martinez, spokesman for the Los Angeles Bureau of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was established in 1973 by President richard m. nixon as part of the Justice Department, thus uniting a number of federal drug agencies that had often worked at cross-purposes. . ``We're seeing larger growths on public lands because there are more people who are growing it diligently,'' Martinez said. ``The other problem is the voracious appetite of the public. We're seeing more people grow it, for more money and more profit.'' Last year, 14,000 marijuana plants were found in a remote spot of the Angeles National Forest near Gorman. Five men were arrested. The pot was found during air patrols, forest officials had said. Marijuana plantations are not unusual in the Angeles Forest - about 40,000 plants were found in 2003 near La Caada Flintridge and destroyed. Police say California forest marijuana cultivation is also booming under the influence of Mexican drug cartels, who hire illegal immigrants to tend the pot farms. Marijuana is planted during April through early June, and harvested in September and October, police say. Fosselman said growers are typically armed and dangerous. As the massive crops proliferate, law enforcement officials say there are not enough resources, such as aerial surveillance crews, available throughout the summer months when marijuana is at its peak. ``For every seizure that we get, there's several we don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. about,'' Davidson, of the Lost Hills Station, said. ``We come across growths of several thousand plants, but it's hit and miss a lot. Sometimes people go hiking and find it and tell us about it. Other times we do a flyover, but it's more about luck. We do not have a team dedicated for the summer months when it is at its peak.'' Fosselman said investigators would continue to comb the area for nearby encampments. ``Our first objective is to get all the plants out of here, remove the irrigation lines, and restore the area to its natural state,'' he said. Since the MET was formed in 1991, the most plants seized by the task force in a year was 80,000. Last year, the total was about 40,000. This year, already at 70,000, could turn out to be the most ever, Fosselman said. Susan Abram, (818) 713-3664 susan.abram(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo, map Photo: Investigator Pete Fosselman helps load marijuana plants, hoisted by a helicopter. Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News Map: Deputies seize 28,700 marijuana plants Daily News |
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