Big bust near Bullards Bar

A chance sighting by a state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement pilot led to the eradication Tuesday of 11,251 illegal marijuana plants near Bullards Bar Reservoir, the highest number found in recent Yuba County history, authorities said.

Food items and Spanish language reading material found near the garden in the Tahoe National Forest indicated it was being tended by Mexican nationals, all of whom had fled by the time agents arrived at about 8 a.m.

After a sweaty morning of cutting mostly immature plants 1.3 miles southeast of the reservoir, agents were plucked from the thickly wooded area by a helicopter and brought back by twos to the Dark Day boat ramp, dangling at the end of a cable beneath the aircraft.

The cool ride beneath the helicopter was a meager reward for a half-day of exhausting work in 100-plus degree temperatures, one agent was heard to say.

The eradication was a joint effort by the state Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, or CAMP, task force, the Yuba County Sheriff's Department and the Yuba-Sutter Narcotic Enforcement Team, or NET-5.

Plants found with buds — the most valuable part — were buried in a landfill at an undisclosed location. Stems and leaves of budless plants were left at the scene to rot.

The number of plants seized was average compared to seizures statewide, said Holly Swartz, a spokeswoman for CAMP, which last year eradicated 2.9 million plants compared to just 354,202 in 2002. Mexican drug organizations are behind most of the gardens found, she said.

The rapidly increasing numbers don't mean more illegal marijuana is being grown every year, rather that CAMP and other agencies are getting better at spotting it, said Mike Hudson, NET-5 commander.

Stepped-up seizures are making it harder for Mexican drug organizations to make a profit on the gardens, which cost tens of thousands of dollars to set up and maintain, said Hudson.

"Each year, CAMP comes. They can't afford to lose their profits on a yearly basis," he said.

From the air, it takes a trained eye to spot the subtly different shade of green amid camouflaging vegetation, said Eddie Heredia, a Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement regional commander who confirmed the presence of the pot plants seized Tuesday. In this case the marijuana had been planted beneath a canopy of manzanita trees.

Melanie Oakes, spokeswoman for the Yuba County Sheriff's Department, said the previous record for plants seized or destroyed in the county was about 8,000.

The National Park Services estimates that each acre of forest planted with marijuana results in 10 acres of damage from pesticides, chemical fertilizer and poisons, according to CAMP.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Rob Young at 749-4710 or at ryoung@appealdemocrat.com.