Operation Full Court Press included the seizure of more than 460,000 marijuana plants valued in excess of $928 million, 18 grams of methamphetamine, 22 Xanax pills, 32 weapons, 11 vehicles, and the arrest of 102 individuals. Officers also found more than 2,100 pounds of fertilizer, 57 pounds of pesticides, 22 miles of irrigation line and 23 tons of trash.
“This was a complete multi-agency team effort where we pulled all of our resources and intelligence to achieve a highly successful result,” said Scott Harris, Special Agent in Charge of the agency's Pacific Southwest Region. “Continuing to strengthen our partnerships is crucial for the agency as we carry on with our mission to make all of our national forests a safe and enjoyable experience for the public.”
In addition to the inherit dangers of drug trafficking, toxic fertilizers, trash and makeshift irrigation systems used in these illegal operations cause extensive and long-term damage to ecosystems and impact the supplies of public drinking water for hundreds of miles. Growers clear native vegetation before planting and sometimes use miles of black plastic tubing to transport large volumes of water from creeks that are often dammed for irrigation. The use of banned herbicides and pesticides by marijuana growers kill wildlife and competing vegetation, allowing rain water to erode the soil and wash poisons, human waste, and trash from the grow sites into streams and rivers.
Removing the makeshift infrastructure found on the Mendocino and working to reclaim the land is a major push to deter drug traffickers from re-establishing on other federal and public lands. The removal of non-native materials is the first step in the restoration process, which can cost roughly $11,000 per acre.
Operation Full Court Press was a multi-agency effort that included the District Attorney's and Sheriff's offices of Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Mendocino, Tehama and Trinity, Calif., counties; California's Department of Fish and Game, Department of Justice, Highway Patrol, National Guard and Civil Air Patrol; the Northern California and the Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas; and the federal Bureau of Land Management, Drug Enforcement Administration, Office of National Drug Control Policy, Department of Homeland Security/Immigrations & Customs Enforcement, the North and Eastern California Districts of the United States Attorney's Office, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Garbage from a marijuana grow site is scattered across the landscape on the Mendocino National Forest.
