Marijuana farms pose dangers to local ranchers (Video link included)

Marijuana farms pose dangers to local ranchers


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Large "farms" of marijuana are being grown in many remote areas around Kern County, and the operations are a danger to local ranchers. The pot plantations are found in places like national forest land -- those lands are also often used for cattle grazing.

Marijuana with a reported street value of $11-million was hauled out of a remote area of the Sequoia National forest on Tuesday. It's an area where cattle are grazed by a local rancher who feels threatened by the pot operations.

"Me and my family are out there chasing cows and looking for our cows and you never know if these people are armed or dangerous -- or can do you harm," the rancher told Eyewitness News.

He did not want us to use his name, saying still feels threatened. "The marijuana growers are still out there," he said. "Just because they got one patch doesn't mean they stopped the marijuana growing."

On Tuesday, six suspects were arrested in connection with the large marijuana farm found near Bohna Peak. Kern County Sheriff officials say they pulled out 4,536 marijuana plants in various stages of growth.

Early Tuesday morning, the suspects were stopped. Five suspects were found in one vehicle. But, the driver of another car refused to stop and led officers on a high speed chase that ended near Delano.

The passenger in that car was arrested, but the driver got away. Officers searched the car and found a loaded .22 caliber rifle and 20 pounds of processed marijuana.

The six suspects are identified as five men from Delano and one from Portland, Oregon.

The rancher says he's spotted evidence of marijuana farms often, and they cause serious problems. The pot growers will often take water sources used by cattle, and pipe that off to irrigate their "crop."

And the livestock is in danger in another way. "Of course the marijuana people don't want the cows in their plantations -- and so they chase them off, they shoot at them, and they move them around that way." The rancher says that leaves less land for the cattle to graze on.

The farms also damage the land itself. At past marijuana farm cases, sheriff officers have showed Eyewitness News trash and fertilizer left behind by the growers.

Plus, undercover officers say the profits from marijuana farms can fund other types of drug trade. That's dangerous and another important reason to find and shut down the farms.

The rancher who grazes cattle where the latest farm was found is glad that operation is gone, and the suspects are behind bars. "Now I feel more safe and I don't have to be so careful there," he says. "I can ride through there and look for cows and check the waters and not have to watch my back."

But, he believes there are more pot farms hidden in remote areas of private and public land -- he says the "plantations" can be almost anywhere there's some source of water.

Story Created: Aug 1, 2007 at 8:50 PM CDT

Story Updated: Aug 1, 2007 at 11:33 PM CDT


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