Pot Farmers Due in San Diego? : Agents Expect Invasion to Avoid Raids in North

The big push by narcotics agents in Northern and Central California to destroy marijuana crops may force big-time growers to relocate in the remote forested areas of San Diego County, authorities fear.

Tommy LaNier, a U.S. Forest Service special agent in San Diego, said Monday that the coming marijuana growing season--traditionally lasting from about March through October--may be the busiest thus far for local law enforcement officials.

“Many of these growers up north lost million of dollars in their investments last year when their plantations were discovered and eradicated,” LaNier said. “There’s every reason to suspect that some of them will be heading south this year because they think the surveillance won’t be as intense here.”

Sgt. Danny Goodrich, a San Diego County deputy sheriff assigned to the county’s Integrated Narcotics Task Force, said agents have yet to uncover any evidence substantiating LaNier’s contention, “but it’s a good thought. It’s been hot up north and it would seem likely that they would come down here.”

The Narcotics Task Force already has received assurances from the Sheriff’s Department that the department’s helicopters will be flying approximately twice as many hours as last year in search of marijuana fields, Goodrich said. Last year, sheriff’s helicopter pilots assigned to marijuana surveillance patrolled an average of two to four days each week.

“We feel that we didn’t get as much of the stuff as we wanted to last year,” Goodrich noted. “We want to get a lot more this season.”

Marijuana growers in the rugged northern and central areas of California often found themselves under the gun in 1984 as the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP) intensified. The two-year-old campaign involves federal, state and local law enforcement agencies working jointly to search for and destroy marijuana plants.

During the campaign’s first year, an estimated $60 million in pot was seized by helicopter-borne CAMP teams, which swoop down on remote areas to uproot marijuana plants. Last year, after agents expanded their aerial search efforts, CAMP teams confiscated more than 150,000 of the plants that, combined, had an estimated street value of $302 million.

Two-thirds of the plants were discovered growing in coastal Humboldt County in Northern California.

While San Diego County does not officially participate in CAMP, the same goals are pursued on a local level by the Narcotics Task Force, a federally funded program based in National City. The program uses officers from the Sheriff’s Department as well as the Carlsbad, Coronado, La Mesa, Oceanside and San Diego police departments.

The task force during 1984 seized 12,000 marijuana plants in San Diego County. About 5,000 of those were found in the 287,860 acres of the Cleveland National Forest which lie within the county’s borders. The rest were detected growing on private property--including suburban backyards.

LaNier said that about 90% of the marijuana plants detected growing in the Cleveland forest were first spotted by agents patrolling in helicopters and airplanes. The rest were discovered through informants or through tips from hikers and campers.

The area around Palomar Mountain has been particularly popular for marijuana growers, LaNier said.

Before aerial surveillance increased, marijuana growers operating within the national forest frequently cleared small areas and planted 500 to 1,000 plants, LaNier said. But lately, to counter law enforcement’s heightened activity, growers have dispersed their crops, planting 25 to 50 plants together and randomly scattering other groupings nearby.

The marijuana fields are sometimes covered by military-type camouflage netting, or by natural canopies of surrounding vegetation. Although a marijuana plant can grow to 14 feet if carefully tended, the fields often are difficult to spot, LaNier said.

Rarely are marijuana farmers apprehended when their fields are raided. The areas are so vast and of such limited accessibility that the growers can melt into the landscape, never to be found, LaNier said.

“Some of these guys may not be there all the time, so they set up booby traps to guard their investments,” he said. “A couple of years ago, up near Palomar Mountain, we found a shotgun hooked to a tripwire. These guys have invested millions, so they’re certainly going to protect their interests.”