Courtesy Photo | El Dorado County Sheriff John D’Agostini talks to a group of officials from state...... read more read more
EL DORADO, Calif. -- The California National Guard Counterdrug Task Force recently participated in Operation Mountain Sweep, a multi-agency, multi-state mission initiated to target illicit marijuana cultivation on public lands in the West and to inform the public and federal agency leaders on the environmental destruction caused by its production.
The Counterdrug Task Force began coordination with federal law enforcement agencies in early June to provide aerial assets and personnel to help make the operation successful. Dignitaries from federal agencies assembled at Mather on August 21 to board California National Guard aircraft and head to the El Dorado National Forest to view a typical grow site.
After a significant dirt shower offered up by rotor wash, the group was greeted by El Dorado County Sheriff John D’Agostini. He walked the group through the site, explaining along the way how the illegal growers decimated the land with trash, fertilizers and pesticides, and diverted waterways with miles of irrigation line. Evidence of hunted animals was still in the makeshift kitchen’s cook pots. Felled trees and plants had been cleared to make way for the marijuana plants. He also highlighted the danger illegal growers pose to those who use and enjoy the lands for recreational use.
A Counterdrug ground tactical team assisted the DOJ’s Cannabis Eradication Reclamation Team (CERT) by securing the area and later removing the infrastructure and trash to restore the land to its natural condition.
Following the tour, California U.S. Attorney Ben Wagner opened a press conference by announcing the operation’s results since it officially began on July 1.
“In California, law enforcement conducted operations at over 90 illegal marijuana grow sites on public lands and eradicated more than 441,000 plants,” Wagner said.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, approximately 60 percent of all of the marijuana plants eradicated in the U.S. in 2011 were from California plots.
Wagner said the good news was that last year saw the first significant decline in rural marijuana operations in California. He believes enforcement operations that have been conducted for several consecutive years in California are having this positive effect. Wagner noted this would be impossible without the California National Guard’s support and specifically thanked the Counterdrug Task Force for the vital role it plays in counternarcotic operations.
| Date Taken: | 08.21.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 09.12.2014 18:37 |
| Story ID: | 142035 |
| Location: | EL DORADO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 143 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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