Photo By 1st Lt. Brianne Roudebush | A member of the Counterdrug Task Force works with members of the Bureau of Indian...... read more read more
MODOC COUNTY, Calif. – The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Drug Enforcement Administration requested support from the California National Guard Counterdrug Task Force in the execution of federal search warrants at two large-scale marijuana operations in Modoc County, July 8.
The BIA, DEA and CDTF were joined by the Bureau of Land Management, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, as well as Modoc County Sheriff’s Office and the California Highway Patrol.
In total, the joint law enforcement team seized more than 12,000 plants and 100 pounds of processed marijuana.
The illicit cultivation facilities were located on the Alturas Indian Rancheria and the Pit River Tribe’s XL Ranch. The facility at the XL Ranch had 40 newly-constructed greenhouses which, according the press release put out by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Sacramento, were capable of housing approximately 1,000 plants each.
The press release stated that both grow operations “were well in excess of the locally enacted marijuana cultivation limits applicable to county land,” and that the XL Ranch facility, which can be seen from highway 395 “far exceeded any prior known commercial marijuana grow operation anywhere within the 34-county Eastern District.”
A CDTF member who has been with the program for eight years, said most of the time, they are working at outdoor grow sites or small green houses.
“This is the first large-scale commercial greenhouse operation I’ve ever seen for marijuana,” he said.
The press release stated that the investigation of the illicit grows sites concluded that they were, in fact, “commercial marijuana cultivation projects operated with the intent to transport large quantities of marijuana off tribal lands for distribution.”
Charles Turner, a drug investigator with the BIA, said that citizens of Alturas had been helpful in providing information for the investigation.
“Whatever their stance is on medical marijuana, or even personal use, they were concerned about the size of the grows happening out of Alturas,” he said.
The Sheriff’s Office and the U.S Attorney’s office were also concerned about the grow operations because the size and intent violated California’s Compassionate Use Act allocations.
In August 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice put out a memorandum, often called the “Cole Memo,” in order to provide guidance to federal prosecutors concerning marijuana enforcement in light of new state laws allowing marijuana use for medical purposes and in specific limited situations. The memo listed eight priorities that guide the department’s efforts in marijuana enforcement, as the production, possession and use of marijuana is still a violation of state and federal controlled substance laws.
Turner said the memo created some confusion because tribal lands were not mentioned anywhere within.
In October 2014, the DOJ put out a second memo clarifying that “nothing in the Cole Memorandum alters the authority or jurisdiction of the United States to enforce federal law in Indian Country.”
Both Turner and his colleague, Charlie Addington, the deputy associate director for the BIA division of drug enforcement, cited federal laws as the reason for the search warrant execution.
“In Indian Country, it’s still federally against the law because Indian Country is ... a federal trust property,” Turner said. “And how can a federal law enforcement agency walk away from a violation of a federal law?”
CDTF prioritizes support to local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in their efforts to protect California communities and resources.
| Date Taken: | 07.08.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.17.2015 17:50 |
| Story ID: | 170396 |
| Location: | MODOC COUNTY, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 355 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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