justlovingit420
09-10-2006, 03:18 PM
checkout all the weed man boooooohoooooooo Lockyer said so far nearly $5 billion worth of maturing pot plants have been destroyed in a beefed up state and federal campaign that will continue into October.
"This is another record-breaking year in finding and destroying illegal enterprises," Lockyer said.
He said drug agents are finding "larger and larger gardens worth tens of millions of dollars."
"It's not unusual for a single garden to have 20,000 plants," Lockyer said.
Lockyer's comments echoed earlier remarks of local, state and federal agents who have cited surging pot production and a growing tie to Mexican crime families.
"There's more marijuana than ever growing out there," Sheriff's Sgt. Rusty Noe, the veteran director of Mendocino County's anti-marijuana growing efforts, has said.
Lockyer in the past has cited the growing role of Mexican drug organizations, concurring with state agents who estimate that as much as 70 percent to 80 percent of illegal pot production on state and federal lands is tied to them.
But Lockyer on Thursday made no reference to the Mexican connection, preferring instead to credit the record seizures to increased numbers of drug teams, aerial surveillance and transportation to the typically remote gardens.
Lockyer spokesman Aaron Carruthers said Thursday the attorney general wanted to emphasize government "efficiencies" over the Mexican crime ties.
The federal Office of National Drug Control Policy last week estimated that 166 of 228 marijuana-growing operations found this year on public lands across the United States were associated with Mexican crime organizations.
National drug czar John Walters said last week in Fresno that "Mexican drug cartels are turning our national parks into centers of international drug trafficking," according to the Fresno Bee.
Lockyer's statewide marijuana statistics released Thursday show that Shasta County led in overall pot seizures, with 204,571 plants yanked.
Lake County was next with 186,327 plants, followed by Mendocino with 114,441. Together the street value of the seized plants in the three counties totaled about $2 billion, according to Lockyer's statement.
State figures were not available Thursday for Sonoma County, but local officials have said at least 70,000 marijuana plants have been uprooted so far this summer.
"This is another record-breaking year in finding and destroying illegal enterprises," Lockyer said.
He said drug agents are finding "larger and larger gardens worth tens of millions of dollars."
"It's not unusual for a single garden to have 20,000 plants," Lockyer said.
Lockyer's comments echoed earlier remarks of local, state and federal agents who have cited surging pot production and a growing tie to Mexican crime families.
"There's more marijuana than ever growing out there," Sheriff's Sgt. Rusty Noe, the veteran director of Mendocino County's anti-marijuana growing efforts, has said.
Lockyer in the past has cited the growing role of Mexican drug organizations, concurring with state agents who estimate that as much as 70 percent to 80 percent of illegal pot production on state and federal lands is tied to them.
But Lockyer on Thursday made no reference to the Mexican connection, preferring instead to credit the record seizures to increased numbers of drug teams, aerial surveillance and transportation to the typically remote gardens.
Lockyer spokesman Aaron Carruthers said Thursday the attorney general wanted to emphasize government "efficiencies" over the Mexican crime ties.
The federal Office of National Drug Control Policy last week estimated that 166 of 228 marijuana-growing operations found this year on public lands across the United States were associated with Mexican crime organizations.
National drug czar John Walters said last week in Fresno that "Mexican drug cartels are turning our national parks into centers of international drug trafficking," according to the Fresno Bee.
Lockyer's statewide marijuana statistics released Thursday show that Shasta County led in overall pot seizures, with 204,571 plants yanked.
Lake County was next with 186,327 plants, followed by Mendocino with 114,441. Together the street value of the seized plants in the three counties totaled about $2 billion, according to Lockyer's statement.
State figures were not available Thursday for Sonoma County, but local officials have said at least 70,000 marijuana plants have been uprooted so far this summer.