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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us July 23, 2005 Massive pot operation raided Tens of thousands of illegal plants destroyed three miles south of the California border By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings HORNBROOK , Calif. — Sheriff’s deputies from Jackson County and Siskiyou County, Calif., uprooted 30,029 marijuana plants on U.S. Forest Service lands three miles south of the Oregon-California border on Friday. The "grow" covered as much as a square mile of land and is thought to be the largest grow in the county ever located by law enforcement officials, according to the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department “They had a real intricate trail that connected it all,” Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters said. “It’s spread out over 25 acres or something. It’s maybe even bigger than that and it’s up in a box canyon.” Members of the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department ran across the grow, off of Ditch Creek Road, during a training exercise Thursday afternoon. Jackson County Sheriff’s deputies intended on taking part in the joint training for special response teams, but were short-staffed because of the Jackson County Fair. “They called us about 2 p.m. (Thursday) that they’d stumbled into a marijuana grow with four armed people,” Winters said. Officers came face-to-face with six men, whom Winters said were Mexican. They fled the scene and have not been apprehended. Officers confiscated a 9-mm handgun, a 7.62 rifle and a 10-22 gun from the site. Deer hunters from last season first alerted the sheriff’s department that marijuana was being grown on land west of the R Ranch in Hornbrook. “It’s a very dangerous situation for hunters or others who may stumble into this,” Winters said, adding it appeared the men who ran from the area lived in lean-tos called “hooches” on the site and maintained the plantation. Camps, a kitchen area and a lookout tower were found in the gardens. “This is definitely the biggest one in Siskiyou County, and we’re getting these cartel groves in here,” Winters said. “The sheriff and I have been working together to take a strong stance on it and just get it stopped.” Aerial surveillance in the past discovered waterlines and marijuana had been grown in the same area a year ago, according to the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department. Two private helicopters from Brim Aviation in Ashland worked with officers to locate all of the plants. Law enforcement agencies normally cruise over areas in helicopters attempting to sight marijuana plantations. Approximately 7,500 marijuana plants have been confiscated by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office this year and Winters expects that number to increase dramatically by the end of September, as plants mature and harvesting takes place. “There are a lot of cartel groves in California and they’re working their way this way,” Winters said. “We’re going to be very aggressive here in the near future.” Agencies participating in the eradication effort include the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department, the Siskiyou County-wide Interagency Narcotic Task Force, the U.S. Forest Service, the California Highway Patrol and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department. Staff writer Jennifer Squires can be reached at 482-3456 x 3019 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Online Pharmacy Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations Hammocks Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams