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10b4me
Trad climber
Where Fair Oaks meets Altadena
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Topic Author's Original Post - Oct 21, 2004 - 02:38pm PT
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Yosemite National Park (CA)
Major Marijuana Plantation Discovered
On October 8th, rangers from the Wawona District were working a boundary patrol in the Iron Creek Drainage for illegal hunting activities when they discovered a large marijuana garden. They also spotted several men in the garden in the process of harvesting thousands of plants. The men immediately fled the area when they saw the rangers, who opted not to pursue and instead pulled back to a secure surveillance point and requested additional assistance.
An immediate aerial reconnaissance of the area was done by law enforcement personnel in the park’s fire management helicopter to determine the size of the garden. The garden was situated on the boundary, partially in the Sierra National Forest and partially within the park.
Park and Forest Service personnel monitored the garden through the night. On October 9th, the park’s special response team, Forest Service officers and Mariposa County Sheriff’s Department officers entered the plantation, secured it, collected evidence, and began eradicating plants. Items found at the site linked the garden to one of the Mexican drug trafficking organizations currently being investigated in central California.
During the operation, 7,049 plants were seized, along with approximately 23 pounds of processed marijuana. Based on the quality and size of these marijuana plants, the estimated street value of this crop has been placed at $30 million.
Late that afternoon, a local citizen reported two men walking out of the woods near the Wawona golf course. Rangers were dispatched and detained them. The rangers who discovered the garden positively identified them as the men who had fled the previous afternoon. They were taken into custody by the Mariposa County Sheriff's Office, as they were outside the park when spotted.
The park’s criminal investigations unit is working with the sheriff’s office and Forest Service to develop intelligence on the drug trafficking organization involved and to prepare the case for prosecution.
The park, benefiting from the similar experiences of Sequoia-Kings Canyon NPs and Hawaii Volcanoes NP, is battling the unacceptable safety and resource effects of foreign-sponsored marijuana growing on park lands by working with surrounding jurisdictions to preclude establishment of illegal operations in the Yosemite region. Initial assistance from Washington has aided this prevention-oriented campaign. Once in a park, these operations are difficult, expensive and dangerous to remove. Yosemite's objective is to aggressively check the activity before it is entrenched. [Submitted by Chief Ranger's Office]
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Bilbo
Trad climber
Truckee
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Oct 21, 2004 - 03:47pm PT
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explains the high cost of weed these days
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tyrone
Trad climber
california
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Oct 21, 2004 - 06:20pm PT
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"street value of 30 million"...."23 pounds"
yeah right! do the math on that, and it's hilarious!
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atchafalaya
Trad climber
California
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Oct 21, 2004 - 06:33pm PT
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my condolences...
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Irisharehere
Trad climber
Gunks
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Oct 21, 2004 - 06:51pm PT
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dude, that comes out to about $4000 a plant.......
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darshahlu
Trad climber
Irvine, CA
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Oct 21, 2004 - 07:02pm PT
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Read it again, tyrone. It says "plants" not harvested/processed crop (which was indeed only 23 pounds). In other words its referring to the value of the 7,000 plants that were seized...
-Darshan
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Melissa
Big Wall climber
oakland, ca
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Oct 21, 2004 - 07:05pm PT
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No wonder my college roommate never had to get a job...
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nature
climber
Flagstaff, AZ
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Oct 21, 2004 - 08:07pm PT
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over 7000 plants is waaaaay over 23 lbs. Those idiots usually take the entire plant, stem and all and weigh it wet. But in this case, considering the environment, my guess is (and oh I love this first hand knowledge), this late in the season (read harvest time), they were looking very very very very very easily at 1500 lbs. A quarter pound per plant is nothing. They could get a up to a pound per....
Street value of what was on the hoof (my guess): $15M to $60M.
WTF
$30M is not unreasonable even if they were kind enough to dry it properly before the burned it!
Quarter lb per plant, street value of $1000/ quarter lb (that's cheap in arizona!) * 7000.
so Irisharehere, $4000 isn't out of the question.
There's little doubt in my mind, in that heat, a bunch of 9 foot plants could appear. I've seen a plant that big yielding nearly that much in lesser environments (but that was over seven years ago).
Damnit!
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Irisharehere
Trad climber
Gunks
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Oct 21, 2004 - 08:26pm PT
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"a bunch of 9 foot plants could appear"
Never grows that big in Ireland......so I'm told ;)
Irish
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