On 14 August 2008, law enforcement officers from nine agencies raided a marijuana plantation in the Ross Lake National Recreation Area, destroying 16,742 plants with a value of nearly $48 million.[1][2] The site was the first known marijuana plantation inside a National Park Service area in Washington, and the first found in the western part of the state.[1]
A helicopter pilot working on a park maintenance project had spotted the plantation, and officers moved in to uproot the plants and ship them off in dump trucks for destruction.[1][2] The growers had cut trees to clear the plots, terraced the land, impounded creeks to feed irrigation systems, and spread chemical fertilizers across the site.[1] Officers also hauled out more than 1,000 pounds of garbage, fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, irrigation piping, propane canisters and equipment.[1]
No arrests were made: the growers escaped, and investigators linked the operation to a Mexican drug trafficking organization using low-level growers.[2] The Park Service said the appearance, location and techniques at the site matched Mexican trafficking groups already cultivating marijuana at park sites in California.[1]
