Weeded out: 2,377 illegal marijuana plants, gun removed from national park

Law enforcement removed thousands of illegal marijuana plants inside Sequoia National Park in California. Officials also removed a gun, several hazardous chemicals and about 2,000 lbs. of trash.

Illegal pot plants

The removal of those 2,377 pot plants involved National Park Service (NPS) rangers along with special agents from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

“Illegal marijuana cultivation on public lands is a serious crime that threatens wildlife, water quality, and visitor safety,” the National Park Service said in a statement to Straight Arrow News. “Park rangers, together with law enforcement partners, are stepping up efforts to detect and dismantle these criminal operations, sending a clear message that illegal activity will not be tolerated on our public lands.”

NPS said law enforcement actually detected this cultivation site last year, but couldn’t rehabilitate it until this year because of the presence of several chemicals. One of those chemicals is called Methamidophos, a highly toxic pesticide marketed under the brand name Monitor. It’s been banned in the U.S. since 2009.

So far, law enforcement has not made any arrests in the case. They said the investigation is ongoing.

Environmental concerns

The NPS said illegal marijuana grows like this have major impacts on the surrounding ecosystem. A single marijuana plant uses between six and eight gallons of water per day, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Runoff from these sites can also be dangerous because of the variety of pesticides used to grow the plants.

In this particular case, there was significant damage to the 13-acre area where the plants were found. That damage includes diversion of the natural flow of water, clearing of natural vegetation, evidence of poaching, construction of large pits to store water and more.

Parks for pot

Well-organized drug traffickers have used Sequoia and nearby Kings Canyon National Parks for large-scale cultivating operations for decades, according to NPS.

In the last 20 years, nearly 300,000 marijuana plants with a value of around $850 million have been removed from those parks.

Just two years ago, a separate grow site was discovered and taken down by law enforcement. A Mexican national received a 10-year prison sentence for growing and selling marijuana plants inside Sequoia National Forest.