Record High: Authorities Seize 5 Million Marijuana Plants
Updated 8:38 AM PST, Thu, Nov 20, 2008
SACRAMENTO -- State and federal drug enforcement officials say they have pulled more than 5 million marijuana plants from public and private land this year, a record amount.
The state Department of Justice, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies announced Wednesday that they have seized 5.2 million marijuana plants. Most of those were on public land.
John Gaines, chief of California's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, says more than half the nation's domestically produced marijuana is grown in California.
State and federal agencies participating in the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting and Operation Green Acres 2 also made 143 arrests and seized 142 weapons.
The marijuana cultivation season generally runs from July through October.
Coast Guard Bust
A Newport Beach-based Coast Guard crew this week made a 9,987-pound marijuana seizure about 100 miles southwest of San Diego, an amount estimated to be worth $32 million. The seizure is one of the largest -- if not the largest -- that the Coast Guard has made around Southern California in the past 15 years, Coast Guard Lt. Kristopher Ensley said in remarks reported on the Orange County Register Web site. (OC Register) http://www.ocregister.com/articles/coast-guard-boat-2233862-ensley-marijuana
Copyright Associated Press
First Published: Nov 19, 2008 5:11 PM PST
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