Marijuana farms, N. California

[diane9247]

Near Lake Shastina, California. The county forbids "large-scale" marijuana farms, so small lots have been bought in what was intended to be a residential development. Put up a shack, plant an acre or two of marijuana, and you're in business. Local authorities raid them, attempt to close them down, but they are failing to control the situation. The operation is owned by a Mexican drug cartel. The farms are managed by Hmong and Chinese immigrant families, but guarded (with copious firepower) by Hmong men. They aren't afraid of anything and don't want you passing through as a tourist. 

The area marked is just a small portion of the illegal marijuana trade's territory in N. California and S. Oregon. Some farms are legal, the ones in the area I marked are not (unlicensed, therefore untaxed). The Lake Shastina area was in the news tonight because an armed Hmong pulled his gun on a police officer who was ordering residents to evacuate. There is a fast-growing fire on the hillside called the Lava Fire, and the man with the gun was trying to re-enter the marijuana growing area. Perhaps to rescue his equipment, weapons, or guard his crop. Who knows. 

This is why it's fun to go to GE to find places you see in the news. There's usually something interesting there. It isn't until you zoom in close that you see how many discrete little gardens there are. 


Source 
Marijuana Legality Map - all 50 states

Marijuana farms.kmz (1.71 KB)

[syzygy]

Amazing!
What a change in a few years...! And not only in state law. 
I have checked SV on webGE on my phone, and well, I could not see any SV dates displayed, but there was nothing except natural shrublands as SV Cab was been there.*

Interesting coincidence(?), your placemark set is only a few miles NE of Weed...! ( :

Many thanks for You to keep us informed about most interesting recent happenings around!

diane9247 - global moderator, master news hawk

( :

*Edit:

Checking GE TimeSlider we see that nothing really happened between 1985-2014. Then "pot-age" has started... 

For comparsion check this screeine pair of 2014 and 2016 imageries on a random location:

[slide]sw|840px;https://res.cloudinary.com/syzygy/image/upload/v1625045987/NC.pot.2014_xknatx.jpg,2014;https://res.cloudinary.com/syzygy/image/upload/v1625045987/NC.pot.2016_nyyglr.jpg,2016[/slide]

[diane9247]

Since I posted this there has been a large fire that destroyed most of the area I have shown. The Lava Fire currently covers over 26,000 acres and is 77% contained. Source

The Lava Fire started on 6/24/21 by lightning and is burning northeast of the community of Weed. Below average winter snowpack and very hot, dry windy conditions created burning conditions similar to those normally experienced in August. Diurnal winds and drought conditions are contributed to the northeast and eastern fire spread. Challenges to firefighters included steep, rocky terrain, limited road access to the fire, and limited water sources near the fire. 

My son, who works for the US Forest Service, told me something that was both weird and funny about fires in marijuana territory. When the farms catch fire, the crews are told to disengage. It wouldn't do to have them "fighting high!" So, if you own a pot farm and it's burning, you'll have to deal with it yourself. 

[syzygy]

Seems 2021 will not be the Year of Ganja... fires in N.California, volcano eruption in St Vincent and the Grenadines, huge police catches in my town, ... oh, oh, ...

[diane9247]

I have an interesting update to this story. Southern Oregon has become a big player in the illegal weed trade. It has exploded over the past 2-3 years and is costing police departments in the state more money than they have. There are illegal small farms in Oregon, too, but most of the news has come from the discovery of enormous processing warehouses closer to towns and major highways. Oregon State Police discovered a massive 500,000 pounds in White City, Oregon, worth approximately $500 million in street value. Last month there was a discovery in a warehouse just south of my city (Klamath Falls). There was an estimated $120 million in that bust and at the time, it was the largest amount ever discovered in one place in Oregon. Source

Found in a potato shed south of Klamath Falls in October. The fire department had been called because someone saw smoke in the
area (seriously 😂 ). A Sheriff's deputy happened to look into an open warehouse door and saw this...


Source

Both of these locations are part of a Mexican drug cartel. Both towns are on the route taken by shippers going north and east, possibly into Canada. Illegal marijuana still has a large percentage of the market, because it's a lot cheaper than the legal product. It's not taxed or regulated by any government, so that brings the cost way down. On the other hand, the consumer never knows what additives are in the marijuana bought illegally. It could be anything from filler of another kind of plant to the deadly opioid fentanyl.  

File shows both locations. The White City one is an educated guess based on a partial address.
Big marijuana processing plants.kmz (1.06 KB)

[diane9247]

Jun 30, 2021 7:31:38 GMT syzygy said:

Interesting coincidence(?), your placemark set is only a few miles NE of Weed...! ( :

Ah yes, a local curiosity! The town of Weed was there long before that word was used for marijuana. It's an old lumber mill town and the junction of the two major highways in Oregon. It's named after the owner of the first lumber mill, Abner Weed. It became a source of jokes and many new kinds of souvenirs during the "Age of Aquarius" and has been ever since.😤 About 1/3 of the town was destroyed in a fast-moving fire several years ago.