Cartels plant pot in U.S. national forests

SEQUOIA NATIONAL FOREST, Calif., Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Mexican drug cartels are growing huge marijuana crops in U.S. National Forests rather than risk smuggling pot into the United States, officials say.

CNN reported Friday that hundreds of millions of dollars worth of marijuana is being grown on federal lands.

"These aren't Cheech and Chong plants," said John Walters, director of the National Drug Control Policy. "People who farm now are not doing this for laughs, despite the fact Hollywood still thinks that. They're doing it to make a lot of money."

Authorities recently found a "marijuana garden" in the Sequoia National Forest, about a two- to four-hour hike from the nearest road, where some 10,000 pot plants were planted. The plants had a street value of about $40 million, officials said.

"This is about serious criminal organizations," Walters said. "They're willing to kill anybody who gets in their way. They're taking money back to those who kill prosecutors, judges and law enforcement."

During the last eight days, a federal, state and county law enforcement initiative called Operation LOCCUST has reported destroying 420,000 marijuana plants in the forest. The plants were worth more than $1 billion on the street, said Lt. Mike Boudreaux of the Tulare County Sheriff's Department.

Authorities have arrested 38 people and seized 29 automatic weapons, high-powered rifles and other guns during the operation, Boudreaux said.