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In This Issue...
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Illegal Marijuana Cultivations Still Abound in Santa Cruz County
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Illegal Marijuana Cultivations Still Abound in Santa Cruz County
Deputies Increased Seizures by 60 Percent in 2006
By Santa Cruz County Sheriff Steve Robbins
Recently I appeared before the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors to request approval to apply for federal funds for the Marijuana Suppression Program. I did so because commercial growers and traffickers of marijuana still pose a serious criminal problem in Santa Cruz County. These grant funds are not directed toward bona fide medical marijuana cultivations that are prescribed in our county ordinance.
Yet this funding application still creates discord among some residents. They question the need for marijuana enforcement and object to the use of helicopters â€" albeit sparingly â€" for overflight detection during the summer months.
During 2006, the Sheriff’s Office seized a total of 42,836 marijuana plants from rural mountainous areas of the county. This is compared to a little over 16,000 plants seized in 2005.
Seizures Increased Last Summer
The 2006 statistics represent a 60 percent increase over the previous year. Almost 33,000 plants were seized in just five gardens out of a total of 33 gardens found in 2006. Some were grown on private lands without the landowner’s knowledge.
Some of these large gardens had similarities to those observed elsewhere in California that are run by well-financed drug trafficking organizations. With the price of a pound of marijuana running from $3,500 to $5,000, it is easy to see the incentive for growing marijuana.
These cultivations present a number of risks. First, there is the safety issue should a hiker or resident unexpectedly come across a large garden in a remote area.
In 2006, our deputies were confronted by a suspect brandishing a knife before fleeing into the woods. In 2005, they were also confronted by an armed suspect who was living in the marijuana garden.
At one garden, deputies located a camera and developed the film. The photos showed a number of suspects posing among the marijuana plants holding firearms.
In these remote areas, our deputies and State Parks rangers discover the practice of growers of clear cutting trees and native plants for cultivation sites.
They dam and divert streams for water sources, terrace hillsides, use pesticides, and leave garbage and equipment at the sites necessitating additional monies to be expended for cleanup and restoration of these areas. At one site, deputies found a deer carcass presumably killed for food.
During 2006, the Sheriff’s Office also located a few hundred plants that were being legitimately grown for medical reasons. They were not eradicated as a result.
Minimal Helicopter Overfights Initiated
There is also the myth that a mysterious black helicopter used by the Sheriff’s Office flies over the whole of Santa Cruz County to spy for marijuana plants. This is simply not the case. We don’t own a helicopter and, during the marijuana season, we utilize the resources of a National Guard helicopter for a little over 20 hours total of flight time over a period of months. The flight time is drastically reduced from previous years. When flying, we concentrate on the rural areas of the County since these tend to have the large gardens and to minimize citizen complaints.
This funding pays for one fulltime deputy sheriff position and part of an assistant district attorney position. Due to the low staffing ratios at the Sheriff’s Office, every position is valuable to our public safety efforts.
This deputy also investigates other types of drug cases and does not focus solely on marijuana.
With our community policing philosophy, we will continue to focus on street crimes and hard drugs that greatly impact our neighborhoods. That is why the Sheriff’s Office has focused more of its drug enforcement efforts at methamphetamine which accounts for the large majority of drug arrests by our agency.
Yet the presence of armed suspects guarding valuable illegal marijuana crops in our mountainous areas, along with the accompanying environmental damage, is a grave public safety concern that the Sheriff’s Office will have to continue addressing for years to come. I am grateful that the Board of Supervisors understands this risk to the public and approved the application for funds again.
If you have a concern about marijuana cultivations in your neighborhood or have a question about medical marijuana, you can contact a Sheriff’s Narcotics detective at 831-454-2311.
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