The Tuolumne Narcotics Team (TNT) with the assistance of
Sheriff’s Office personnel, United States Forest Service, Bureau of Land
Management, Fish and Game, State Parole, Sonora Police, and personnel from CAMP
(campaign against marijuana planting) conducted three days of marijuana
eradication efforts from public lands within Tuolumne County. A total of five
marijuana gardens were raided and 16,055 marijuana plants were eradicated.
Evidence in the gardens indicated that all of the grows were maintained by
Mexican National Drug Cartels. Ammunition and evidence of the presence of
firearms were located in every grow site. One AK-47 rifle with a 30 round
magazine was also discovered in a grow site.
Eradication efforts will continue throughout Tuolumne County
during the growing season which usually concludes by the end of October for
outdoor marijuana cultivation.
CAMP was defunded two years ago by Governor Brown. Until its demise, CAMP had been jointly funded by state monies and federal monies. When California opted out of funding the program, the agency changed its name to CERT (Cannabis Eradication and Reclamation Team) and refocused their efforts to place a stronger emphasis on the environment. The federal monies that were previously going to the state of California for CAMP are now being funneled to the Department of Fish and Game, ICE, and the EPA. So while there is still a federally funded eradication program in effect, it is no longer called CAMP. I understand that to many this may seem like a distinction without a difference- but to marijuana advocates such as myself, it is important. The federal government funneled the old CAMP money over to CERT because they did not want to lose the funding or scale back their drug war. They also chose to reallocate the funding to the EPA in order to refocus the propaganda war; the new mantra of government agencies is that marijuana cultivation is destroying the environment. We are seeing a steady increase in government sponsored "news stories" focusing on this issue. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to get back to me on this. If there is any interest over there at the Gazzette for local marijuana information, feel free to send an email or drop me a call. Our agency has been keeping locals informed and serving patients since 2009.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
Tom Liberty
posted by Copper Gazette