Pot Seizures Set Record, Mirror Statewide Trend

Sonoma County narcotics agents have recovered a bumper crop of marijuana plants so far this year, mirroring a statewide trend that officials attribute to increased investment by Mexican drug cartels.

The 102,000 plants destroyed in Sonoma County -- five times as many as were uprooted in all of 2004 -- sets a record for seizures, according to the Sheriff’s Department. About half of them came from two clandestine pot farms found in the Austin Creek State Recreation Area in July.

“Somebody’s planting a lot of marijuana out there, and it’s not local people just growing it for personal use,” said Michael Johnson of the state’s Campaign Against Marijuana Planting.