Over the last couple of weeks, Humboldt County has been virtually crawling with federal law enforcement agents on the prowl for big-time weed dealers. First, on July 10, came United States Drug Enforcement Administration agents, who served multiple search warrants in SoHum and, with help from the Humboldt County Drug Task Force, arrested 13 people — some local, others not. (Three of the 13 were placed on immigration hold status.)
Eight days later, agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Minneapolis, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, led raids on properties in Bayside, Sunny Brae, Petrolia and Garberville. These raids appeared to be the culmination of a multi-agency, multi-state investigation, and according to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader they led to the arrests of three South Dakota men. Two of the three, including Sean McFarland, a singer and rhythm guitarist for a popular alt-country band called Snakebeard Jackson, had moved to Humboldt County in March, 2010. All three have been charged with conspiring to distribute at least 220 pounds of marijuana.
Clearly the county’s black market marijuana industry is booming, and while local law enforcement didn’t want to say much about the recent raids, referring all questions to equally tight-lipped federal agencies, Humboldt County Sheriff Mike Downey said the backup is welcome. As a matter of fact, he said, “I’m the one, I hope, who initiated it.”
Frustrated by the proliferation of large-scale outdoor grow operations, along with the erosion of state resources, Downey decided to ask the federal government for help. Last October he began meeting with U.S. Attorney General Melinda Haag, who has taken a hardline stance against marijuana, even going so far as to target reputable medical marijuana dispensaries. And Downey didn’t stop there.
“I began to reach out then, not only to the U.S. Attorney’s Office but [also to] the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the U.S. Marshall’s Office, ATF.”
The problem, Downey said, is that state resources for the drug war have all but disappeared. The budget approved earlier this year by Gov. Jerry Brown includes $71 million in cuts to the state’s law enforcement division and threatens to eliminate the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, which confiscated $17 billion worth of marijuana from California forests in 2010.
The inter-governmental Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP), which once struck fear in the hearts of outdoor growers throughout the Emerald Triangle, is now “a shadow of what it used to be,” Downey said. “Everything’s been downsized. Those programs have been decimated.”
Here’s how bad things have gotten: Last year, Humboldt County sheriff’s deputies in helicopters took aerial photographs of nearly a dozen massive outdoor growing operations, mostly located in the Redwood Creek watershed, but they didn’t have the resources to do anything about them, Downey said.
Those resources should be easier to come by if the county gets accepted into a federal program that targets large-scale drug trafficking and production. Established in 1988, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Program, or HIDTA, is designed to foster cooperation among federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies. Counties that are part of a HIDTA (pronounced hide-uh) also have increased access to federal resources. Downey wants to get Humboldt County in on that action. He and other law enforcement officials in the county have petitioned the Office of National Drug Control Policy to be added to the existing Northern California HIDTA, which includes 11 counties stretching up the coast from Monterey to Mendocino and east to Alameda, Contra Costa and Lake.
The benefits of the program are both strategic and financial. Each HIDTA — and there are 28 across the country, incorporating 16 percent of all U.S. counties and 60 percent of the U.S. population — is guided by an executive board that includes federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement leaders. The board designs initiatives and requests funding to implement them. The program also offers support for technology, intelligence analysis and training.
Ron Brooks is the director of the Northern California HIDTA, which was designated in 1997. At the time it included just 10 counties; Mendocino wasn’t added until last year, following a collaborative application effort led by Sheriff Tom Allman. Brooks said there are no hard and fast criteria for acceptance into the program, but a key step is for local agencies to conduct a thorough analysis of drug trafficking in the region.
“They should try to develop a true threat picture,” Brooks said, “not just a guess but to really understand: How many trafficking organizations are operating in the county? What’s their production capacity? What’s their level of sophistication? And how does it impact other parts of the state or the country?”
Political support is also important. Mendocino County engaged Congressman Mike Thompson and Sen. Diane Feinstein in its effort to join the Northern California HIDTA. Thompson believes Humboldt should be included as well, and not just because of marijuana.
“Local law enforcement’s resources are strained because of the ongoing fight against the rampant expansion of methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana trafficking,” Thompson said in a statement to the Journal. “They need the assistance of HIDTA funds, which will allow the county’s law enforcement to improve their intelligence-gathering abilities and more effectively combat the threat of widespread drug trafficking.”
Brooks said the timeline for a decision on Humboldt’s inclusion is uncertain. A lot depends on whether there’s enough money in the program. “They don’t add counties very often,” he said.
Lately the federal government has made little distinction between medical marijuana dispensaries and commercial grow operations, going after both with renewed zeal. While Downey acknowledges that some dispensaries are clearly motivated by profit rather than compassion, he still believes that the state should be allowed to regulate dispensaries. But that’s not his call.
“If the federal government is going to have the stance that any type of cultivation is illegal,” he said, “then I need some help here.”
This article appears in Cheap Eats.
Mr. Downey needs help, all right. He needs help understanding that his authority, and mission, come from the California people, who voted to allow medical marijuana in 1996. If the feds take a stance different than that of CA law, Mr. Downey’s loyalty needs to be to the people of the state.
What is the location of that picture? I can’t imagine a covert grower landscaping such a giant bulls eye from the air.
@Matthew Meyer: Sheriff Downey was pretty clear that he’s focused on large-scale commercial grows. As the story says,
While Downey acknowledges that some dispensaries are clearly motivated by profit rather than compassion, he still believes that the state should be allowed to regulate dispensaries.
Melinda Haag and the U.S. Attorney’s Office are another story, but he doesn’t have any authority over them.
— The Sheriff may be concerned about giant grows, but re-read his last quote. “If the federal government is going to have the stance that any type of cultivation is illegal,” he said, “then I need some help here.” There is no IF. The federal government does take the stance that all marijuana is a federal crime. So who cares what the lowly county sheriff wants. The feds won’t care once they are involved!! Careful what you wish for, Sheriff. Downey will be busting any grower the federal government wants busted no matter what he thinks. He cannot have it both ways.
I agree with Amazed. Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko conceded in a 2010 Wall Street Journal interview that cannabis is not the biggest public safety threat, but it’s “where the money is.”
The feds are unlikely to make the same distinctions that local officials might like to make.
I assume they raided that property, otherwise it’s a complete invasion of privacy. And is that property considered a BIG grow op out here? I thought 20 greenhouses in a row would classify as over-the-top.
Maybe the Journal can get some HIDTA funds to install a “one page” button on its articles.
My niece was almost abducted in downtown eureka in broad daylight 2 weeks ago. This was reported to the authorities, however , not another word after that. No story on channel 3 news, nothing written in our local papers. C’mon Downey……….marijuana is where your efforts belong? I challenge that!!!!
from what I`ve heard the meth users and hard dope is in Euereka, probably not cannabis related .
sheriff Downey has definitely got his hands full, but lets face it, this whole county relies pretty much on the revenue, like it or not, in one way or another from this business. The bigger issue, I think, is definitely the methamphetamine and heroine running rampant through our community, get some fed help for that!
A fly over of the Honeydew area would no doubt look like a bunch of blisters (greenhouses) on the landscape. These greedy, lazy bums are bulldozing out the pads for these greenhouses without any regard for the effects on the land or river systems.
Dear Keith,
I quote “These greedy, lazy bums are bulldozing out the pads for these greenhouses”…. Are you kidding… lazy.. bulldozing.. building green houses.. LAZY!!! Ya and I bet you were eating some fast food while you sat on your over weight butt while you were reading this article.
I live next to one of these huge larger then life grows. infact there are 2 on my road. one is a good medical grow using sound practices & environment friendly and non invasive to neighbors. done by 2 local older gentlemen. the other is a monstrous operation run by young local boys who feel way above the law. they feel it is ok to do anything that will garner them more money. they shoot at people they dont like who happen to drive on the main road. have cameras up all up and down their part of the road most pointed at neighbors not at the roads. they live in great fear of being ripped off so live in attack mode. my cat had kittens in the wood my 2 kids went to get them and were shot at on my own property but it was close to one of the many green houses they have . we have trimmers here 4 to 5 times a year spewing garbage all up and down the roads screaming and yelling harassing people who live on the road. not caring at all for any one else who lives here. out of towners who are picked up in town to trim. we have been ripped off by these trimmers gas siphoned out of cars parked. cars broken into etc. these boys with their huge grow have felled dozens of trees with no timber harvest plan dug ponds on unstable ground cleared so much brush its like the dust bowl not use so much water 3 of us on this road now casn olny pump a few gallons of water a day compared to 4 years ago before the grow was here we could pump close to 200 a day before the rains came in Sept. This is not a grow operation for helping sick people this is a for profit grow only run by local 30 something guys . it is a joke to even think this is a medical grow. and a blight on the community really . its not a mom and pops thing to just have some smoke and a little extra cash. Something has to be done about this type f operation. and frankly I would rather live next to a mexican cartel grow . the one I know of down the road from a friend is quiet respectful and clean. maybe not enviro friendly but they in no way hassel neighbors or have any conflict with them and they dont bring in off the street trimmers to harass neighbors either.