Large hauls in Northern California suggest big-time growers are coming our way

Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters does not like what he’s hearing.

He sits in a windowless room deep in the sheriff’s office listening to Siskiyou County Sheriff Rick Riggins describe California’s record-breaking 2005 marijuana harvest. Riggins’ story is a familiar one: Too few deputies patrolling way too much land on a shoestring budget.

So far, authorities have pulled 1.1 million plants from gardens all across California. This is up from a record 600,000 found all of last year, Riggins says.

"It’s not like back in the ’70s when we could send a couple of deputies to take a garden out," he says. "It’s become more and more dangerous so we have to send teams in."

He describes how deputies and federal agents sometimes must shoot it out against well-armed sentries who are ordered to stand their ground against law enforcement at all cost. And the bad guys almost always get away, he says.

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"To catch them in the gardens is almost impossible," Riggins says. "These guys are in good shape and run uphill. Also, they usually hear us coming."

Last year, deputies outside of Etna, Calif., took fire from guards protecting a large garden. Twenty firearms, along with 2 pounds of methamphetamine and 450 pounds of marijuana, were confiscated by police from a site near Fresno.

Jackson County has been touched by marijuana-related violence this year. Two men were wounded in a gun battle on Gebhard Road in Central Point last month. According to Winters, the men were fighting over 104 pounds of marijuana stored inside the house.

"It was basically a drug rip-off," Winters says.

The main concern for Jackson County authorities is what Riggins describes as the "toothpaste effect" occurring in California’s drug war. As traffickers are squeezed out of Southern California by police, they move their operations north where authorities are stretched thin and there are plenty of remote areas perfect for large gardens. Jackson County is the next step up for big-time growers looking to expand northward, police say.

About 17,000 plants were pulled by Jackson County law enforcement so far this year. Winters says at least four grows have been linked to California drug cartels. Last year, only one garden had ties to cartels, Winters says.

The problem for police is identifying which cartels are responsible for the gardens. The cartels, which are mostly headed by Mexican nationals, have taken a cue from American corporations and have merged and commingled in order to maximize profits, says Mark Merrill, Siskiyou County marijuana eradication team supervisor.

"These organizations are progressing as the monetary value becomes higher and higher," Merrill says.

Keeping a garden healthy and profitable takes work. Supplies have to be hiked to locations, which can be in high altitudes and remote valleys. Primitive irrigation systems made from PVC pipe are used to divert water from streams — sometimes a water system can stretch across two miles. Shelters are built from trees and bushes, sometimes containing a portable propane tank for cooking. Deep garbage pits are dug to hold the trash.

Labor is distributed among the workers. Some are tagged to deliver food, others to pack the marijuana out of the location. Armed men stand guard in hooches built into trees. The guards care for the plants until harvest.

An arrest made at a grow often provides little information to police about the bigger picture. Workers rarely know who it is they’re working for. Most speak little English and are threatened with death if they speak to police, Merrill says.

"Getting the workers is like cutting the tail off the snake," he says. "You gotta get the head to kill it."

A garden eradicated by police can prove costly for a cartel. Police estimate that a mature plant’s street value can be as high as $5,000. But most conduct several operations in different areas so if one goes down all is not lost, Merrill says.

All of this leaves Winters a bit worried. Jackson County has yet to experience the marijuana war at a high level, but that may change as traffickers move north.

Winters hopes to create a regional response team that can bring massive resources to a garden on a moment’s notice. His goal is to streamline the process so that Oregon State Police troopers and sheriff’s deputies from surrounding counties can descend on and surround a grow before the suspects can escape. He wants to have this in place by next year, he says.

"There’s no one agency that can handle these guys," Winters says. "We have to retain patrol strength. Crime doesn’t stop while we’re hitting grows."

Since harvest coincides with the start of hunting season, hunter safety becomes a concern. Hunters have proven helpful to police in recent years. Siskiyou County hunters helped sheriff’s deputies locate 40,000 plants last year. The number could be higher, but some hunters refuse to come forward with a grow site for fear of reprisal.

Riggins says that an anonymous call is all that is needed. Police do not need a search warrant to follow a marijuana garden lead and pull the plants. He says that all names are left out of the police report and a hunter who calls in a grow does not need to speak at a trial or give a formal statement.

"People need to be educated on the signs," Winters says. "If you see PVC pipe, holes in the ground and hooches, it’s best to leave the area immediately and call police."

Reach reporter Chris Conrad at 776-4459, or e-mail cconrad@mailtribune.com.