Successfully finding and destroying illegal marijuana gardens
hidden in remote areas of the county starts high above the leafy
stalks in a helicopter, but getting high isn’t cheap.
The San Benito County Sheriff’s Department received approval for
a $10,000 federal grant to help pay for expensive helicopter flight
time they accrued during the five-month long eradication season
from May to October.
Hollister – Successfully finding and destroying illegal marijuana gardens hidden in remote areas of the county starts high above the leafy stalks in a helicopter, but getting high isn’t cheap.
The San Benito County Sheriff’s Department received approval for a $10,000 federal grant to help pay for expensive helicopter flight time they accrued during the five-month long eradication season from May to October.
During that time, the sheriff’s department paid $9,165 for 16 hours of helicopter flight time and overtime for agents with the Unified Narcotics Enforcement Team to eradicate gardens located throughout the county, according to Lt. Pat Turturici.
The department was reimbursed $8,000 from the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration and federally funded High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program, Turturici said. It also received $2,000 toward the UNET budget to purchase additional eradication equipment for the 2005 season, he said. The extra $2,000 will buy tools such as machetes, burlap bags and canteens when agents go out on busts, said UNET Commander Mark Colla.
Agents destroyed 20,000 plants in the county during the 2004 season – which equals about 10 tons of marijuana, he said.
“That’s a good season,” he said. “You get 10 tons of marijuana out of your community.”
UNET, which is comprised of officers from the sheriff’s department, Hollister, Gilroy and Morgan Hill police departments, San Benito County Probation Department and the California Highway Patrol, operates on a scant yearly budget of $190,000, said Colla.
To assist in UNET’s efforts, Sheriff Curtis Hill has been attempting to join the Northern California HIDTA, which mainly services the metropolitan Bay Area, for several years, he said.
While the small grants are appreciated, Hill said he wants to be a full member of HIDTA to receive six-figure grants to destroy gardens and address the methamphetamine production problem.
HIDTA was started in 1989 to address drug trafficking problems in larger cities, but Hill said rural areas like San Benito County have just as much of a problem as the urban areas.
“In our county we get these super labs that are capable of producing up to 300 pounds on a cook,” Hill said. “The rural areas have bigger poundage compared to the urban areas.”
Hill said there are usually one to two large meth productions a year in the county.
Because HIDTA is a federally funded program, the only way San Benito county could become a member is to receive a Congressional mandate in conjunction with the White House’s drug czar, said Ron Brooks, the director of Northern California HIDTA.
Brooks conceded rural areas have a definite problem with large marijuana gardens and meth labs, but federal funding is down and gaining membership isn’t likely, he said.
“We would love to help Sheriff Hill – he’s been a great partner – and they do have some serious meth lab and marijuana gardens in the county,” Brooks said. “But we don’t have any input on what counties we want to designate (money) to. I think things are going to get worse before they get better because funding is either remaining static or being reduced.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or em*******@fr***********.com.
