East Bay Regional Park police officers found $1 million worth of marijuana plants Friday when they raided a growing operation in a remote ravine in the Las Trampas Regional Wilderness, police said.
Police said they found about 3,300 plants in the raid, which was conducted at 4 a.m. in an area between Castro Valley and San Ramon. No arrests were made.
That's a bigger than average haul, according to parks police Capt. Mark Ruppenthal. Authorities find about one such crop a year in Las Trampas – a 5,342 park with lots of trees, valleys and ravines.
Park police conduct daily patrols of the park property. The 3,300 plants were spotted by helicopter during routine patrols, Ruppenthal said. An elaborate irrigation system that tapped into the park's water supply was watering the crops.
"It used up enough water for us to notice a drain on our system," Ruppenthal said.
The irrigation system used PVC pipes to tap into natural springs and covered "quite a distance," Ruppenthal said. "It's absolutely elaborate."
The plants found Friday grew in a ravine, partially obscured by trees, police said. Marijuana needs a lot of sunlight to grow, so they can't be completely hidden.
These operations concern the park district because suspects remove native plants and use fertilizer, poisons and pesticides, according to police.
Budgets cuts have forced the parks department to cut some positions, Ruppenthal said. But he's still not clear how much of an affect that's had on his agency's ability to patrol the area.
"We'll have a better idea in a couple of weeks," he said. "We're looking into that."
The plants were taken to an undisclosed location and destroyed.
Anyone with information about the growing operation is asked to East Bay Regional Parks Police at (510) 881-1833.
– Bay City News contributed to this report
You remind me of our esteemed 43rd President, who was fond of prefacing his assertions and conjecture with, "some people", i.e. establishing a false basis for his forthcoming comment to lend it credibility or pertinence. You do the same thing, but you specifically go after Libertarians. Please explain yourself.
You just inadvertently described contemporary America. Want me to come lift the rock beneath which you're living? Must be stuffy under there...
Now obviously there are a lot of drugs that should NOT be legalized, but marijuana is definitely not one of them. Two of the most addictive drugs, nicotine and alcohol are legal so explain that one to me??? If Marijuana were completely legal (for the record I don't smoke pot) then main stream companies would start producing and selling it. They would have their own private land to grow it on. Their pricing would be so much lower that the illegal growers would go out of business and would have no interest in growing it all let alone on private land. Hence, our government wouldn't be wasting time on this and could focus on more important things. Now for those of you who think this is absurd let me ask you this - how many people are making alcohol in the basement of their home for resale and I'm not talking about beer enthusiasts trying to create a home brew. The answer of course is none! The reason is they would not be able to compete with companies making it legally. I would rather see alcohol made illegal and pot legal. As far as I know people do not die from "Marijuana Poisining" and I'm sure there would be less vehicle related deaths as well.
And yes, alcohol causes way more deaths but people have died from marijuana poisining and people do cause accidents while under the influence of just marijuana. There are several examples of both you can Google.
Anyways let me answer your question with a question that I actually answered in my post. Right now where do the unemployed and younger kids get alcohol? Yes they get it from the store made my companies who are making it legally. If your point was correct why aren't they getting alcohol that is illegally smuggled in or made illegally on farms somewhere? Also it's funny how you describe potheads as unemployed. So first off what you are saying is that someone who likes to smoke pot once in a while is a "pothead" so that would be like saying that anyone who likes to have an occasional drink is an "alcoholic". Secondly you are saying anyone that smokes pot is not productive in society which is so far from the truth you obviously aren't aware of it. I can personally tell you that some of the biggest high tech companies in the world have many executives who smoke pot and there are plenty of millionaires who do as well. Just like alcohol there are plenty of people who can be highly effective and plenty who are not. However, you immediately characterize anyone who smoke pot is ineffective. At least you agree that alcohol causes way more deaths and while there may be some from marijuana it is minor in comparison.
We haven't had successful attach on USA soil since 9/11 is not true. Only instead of foreigner attacking the USA, it's the government of the USA attacking its citizens by slowly eroding our freedoms and rights. As Mr Ben Franklin said: They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Ok, so I made up the part about about there being a study but you know it's true!
By the way you never answered my question about where unemployed people and kids get alcohol :-)
As far as legalization, I say no. I prefer decriminalization. "Legalization" is control by the state. It's an herb, no different than basil or oregano. Decriminalize it.
Yes, people have accidents if they are unexperienced and unused to the effect pot has on a person. However, it is possible to "master" it and achieve higher levels of performance on specific tasks. You can't know unless you do.
— Daniel Webster