On Tuesday 13 November 2007 Attorney General Jerry Brown announced a record haul of illegal marijuana pulled from secluded fields in rural California: 2.9 million plants eradicated from public parks and state lands, worth an estimated $11.6 billion.[1][2] The results were announced jointly by the state Justice Department, the US attorney’s office and the Drug Enforcement Administration.[2]
In the Sacramento district the program produced 36 indictments, and US Attorney McGregor Scott said prosecutors were moving beyond garden caretakers to the trafficking hierarchy, which faces a minimum of ten years for producing more than 1,000 plants under federal law.[2] Mid-season, the campaign had already reached 2.49 million plants with a few weeks still to go, after more than 475 raids and 27 arrests the year before.[3]
Raids push growers indoors and onto public land
Officials blamed large cartel-run grows for environmental damage on public land, where guards stood watch heavily armed; Brown said hikers had heard gunshots and agents found gang graffiti carved into trees.[2] A National Drug Threat Assessment released 8 November found indoor cultivation up 85 percent between 2000 and 2006, and legalization advocates said eradication was pushing growers into suburban homes: police in Elk Grove had unravelled two indoor networks, raiding 21 homes and seizing 14,000 plants valued at $56 million.[2] Researcher Jon Gettman estimated the state’s 2006 outdoor crop at more than 17 million plants, meaning the record season still took under a fifth of it.[1]
