Drug Cartels Cash Crop in US Forests

Though it is reported that travel will be down from last year, this Labor Day Weekend a lot of families and friends will be heading to state federal campgrounds. It could be at their own peril.

According to an article in the September 3rd Wall Street Journal the forest service is concerned because families are not the only people who will be hiking through the forests.

It is time to harvest the “Pot Plantations” that are being grown in 61 national forests in at least 16 states, a more than 20% increase over last year and up from 3 sites in California in 1995.

These pot fields are connected to the Mexican drug cartels but they are no longer confining their crops to the southwest. Northern states from Washington to Michigan and Southeastern states also have Mexican drug cartel marijuana crops growing.

Since the crackdown of drugs at the southern border, growing pot in the US has become more attractive. These are not a couple of guys growing a few plants but a sophisticated operation complete with armed guards or traps.

According to the article, in the past year 487 pot farms have been destroyed and 369 pot farmers have been arrested.

The number of pot fields is growing every year and it is easier to get away with it because the number of federal agents is being cut. In this economy it is easy for the drug cartels to find “foreign national” workers to guard and tend the fields. These fields are large enough for “tens of thousands of plants.”

If the Wall Street Journal knows about this one might think elected officials do too. At least those living in California where it has been a “serious” problem for over a decade.

Instead of continuing to point fingers at Afghanistan for growing poppies as a good cash crop in a very poor country of limited resources, perhaps the finger pointers should take note of our own growing problems first.

Ironically, it is reported their poppy crops are actually shrinking as we pour resources into helping Afghan farmers change crops.

Instead of putting billions of dollars into pork projects why not take a few of those dollars to hire more federal agents to battle these drug cartels in our own country? Gee, this government actually creating jobs.

The drug cartels have sophisticated weapons and have proved they are not afraid to use them, even on some unsuspecting people stumbling across their pot crop while hiking through the forest.

If our elected officials spent less time on schemes to feather their nests and expand their power and gave some concern to their oath of office they would put the resources needed to keep our country safe instead of trying to undermine it.