thought this was a story worth mentioning. i live about twenty minutes from the forest preserve where these plants were discovered. wonder if i'll have trouble finding bud these next few months?
Quote:
Surrounded by Barrington mansions and boxed in by evangelical churches, men living on the edge of society cultivated secret fields of marijuana.
Living in tents tucked into the thickets of a dense Cook County forest preserve, they tended about 30,000 plants that are now up to 8 feet tall with lush leaves as big as your face and stalks as thick as your fingers.
"They probably worked day and night," surmised Cook County Forest Preserve Police Chief Richard Waszak as he stood Tuesday amid the rows of pot partially shaded by squat trees. "Quite frankly, this is the most sophisticated operation we have seen."
What federal and county investigators uncovered in the brush of the Crabtree Nature Preserve this summer has turned out to be one of the largest pot-growing busts in the nation.
Just yards from busy roads, the planting and pruning took place in 11 separate fields dotting the 1,650-acre preserve. If the crop were harvested next month, sneaked onto trucks and sold locally or abroad, the drug runners could have raked in up to $10 million, authorities estimate.
Police burn some of the 20,000 marijuana plants being cultivated in several fields at the Crabtree Nature Center in Barrington. (Bill Zars/Daily Herald)
Cook County Forest Preserve patrolman Joe Shukstor emerges from a bunker that was part of an extensive marijuana farm discovered at the Crabtree Nature Center in Barrington. (Bill Zars/Daily Herald)
VIDEO: Marijuana fields in Barrington
Authorities continue to investigate who organized the pot farms and stood to profit.
On July 10 — a month after a college-aged conservation intern stumbled upon three pot growers and called police — authorities arrested two 23-year-old men who lived in one of three encampments near the fields.
The men's connection to the massive pot-growing operation was not revealed until Tuesday, when authorities took reporters on a tour of a pot field and started burning the plants.
Jose Verra and Bernardo Rangel were arrested when police spotted them at an elaborate encampment.
Both were charged with felony counts of cultivating marijuana and property damage and one count of misdemeanor trespass.
They were each given $40,000 bond on July 11, but only Rangel posted it and has been released. Rangel has a permanent resident card and Verra is an undocumented immigrant, authorities say. Addresses for the two were not available.
A national issue
But Rangel and Verra are not the ringleaders, said Gary Olenkiewicz, a special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration.
"This investigation is just beginning," he said. "We have a lot of work to do."
The Barrington bust is part of a growing problem: Lately more large-scale pot farms are being uncovered nationwide.
Police find pot growing in forest preserves, even Crabtree, every year. But this operation is far larger and more sophisticated than any earlier bust.
One of the next largest came in 2002, when police found 4,500 plants growing in the Paul Douglas Forest Preserve near Hoffman Estates.
The Barrington bust could be connected to a much larger organization that has shifted from smuggling pot from Mexico to growing it stateside, Waszak said.
On Monday, a field of 10,000 plants was found in Dallas, the largest growing operation ever uncovered in that state.
In Barrington, Rangel and Verra were likely just two of many field workers involved with the hidden Crabtree fields, Waszac said.
While the total number of operators remains unclear, the extent of the work to grow, water and watch the crops was significant.
Rangel and Verra were arrested at a camp just off New Sutton Road across from The Chapel church.
The camps
Under a green tarp strung from trees, Verra and Rangel slept on army-style cots with bags of fertilizer underneath, authorities say. They cooked in old pots, apparently using a propane tank for fuel.
On Tuesday, the camp was littered with moldy tortillas, opened cans of beans and corn, and empty cans of Modelo beer. At least five cans of strong bug spray were scattered about the site.
A laundry basket contained dozens of cans of generic vegetables, and a butcher knife stuck out from a nearby tree trunk. For entertainment, the camp contained a battered copy of High Times — a marijuana enthusiast magazine — and a handheld radio.
A few yards away was a hole 4 feet deep and 10 feet long and covered with logs and dirt. Waszak said it was likely a place to hide if someone stumbled into the camp.
Generators and a car battery powered the few electronic items in the camp, such as the sump pumps for the irrigation system.
Workers ran hoses more than 1,000 feet from preserve ponds to 10-foot-deep trenches dug out by the field workers. Hoses could then spread water from the ditches to the plants.
The plants were apparently started by the workers in small plastic garden flats. The seedlings were then transferred to strips cleared of brush. Some small trees were left standing to provide blockage from helicopters.
Once in the freshly tilled dirt, each pot plant was sprinkled with fertilizer. Small bottles of coyote urine hung on trees near the plants to keep away animals, such as deer, which eat the plants.
The bust
DEA agent Olenkiewicz said the planting probably took place just weeks before June 10, when a McGraw Wildlife Research intern out doing fox research came upon an irrigation hose dipping into a pond.
The intern spotted three men who told him they worked for the village of Barrington. The men quickly fled, Olenkiewicz said.
The intern called police, who found a small field of pot growing in the area. A week later, forest preserve police returned with DEA agents and found several more pot fields. A camp found on that excursion even included a shower.
On June 29, an aerial surveillance mission revealed even more fields.
During a follow-up inspection on July 10, Verra and Rangel were found sleeping in their tent, wearing camouflage clothing. After additional surveillance, investigators decided to notify the media and burn the pot.
On Tuesday, more than 50 Cook County and DEA officers and 30 maintenance workers ripped up the tall pot plants, counted them and tossed them on burning pyres.
Most of the plants, many of which had yet to form buds used for smoking, were expected to be destroyed by Tuesday night.
The preserve is so thick with bushes and plants in the area that construction equipment was brought in to clear paths for the workers.
The preserve includes a limited 5-mile track for bird watching, but most of the preserve is closed off to the public by barbwire. Waszak said the pot growing caused considerable damage to the land.
Before the excavation, authorities said, it was difficult to see many yards ahead or spot any of the hidden entrances off the suburban roads. The forest preserve police routinely check areas but can only cover so much, Waszak said.
"They did a lot of work to set this 'grow' up," Waszak said of the drug ring. "They are not stupid."
I watched with glee
While your kings and queens
Fought for ten decades
For the gods they made
I shouted out,
Who killed the kennedys?
When after all
It was you and me
Actually, Insane, I doubt you'll even notice a change in the weed market. Thats a mere drop in a swimming pool in the grand scheme of things. Thats what law enforcement needds to realize.....every time a dealer/grower gets popped, theres 5 people willing to take his or her place. Also, a lot of growers perfer to NOT market their stuff locally, as the further away the grower is from where it hits the street, the safer he is.....He'd rather have it sold somewhere where theres no to little chance of his name ever being attached to the weed in any way
__________________
Ted Nugent: "To my mind it is wholly irresponsible to go into the world incapable of preventing violence, injury, crime, and death. How feeble is the mindset to accept defenselessness. How unnatural. How cheap. How cowardly. How pathetic." Also by Ted "If guns cause crime, all of mine are defective"
Actually, Insane, I doubt you'll even notice a change in the weed market. Thats a mere drop in a swimming pool in the grand scheme of things. Thats what law enforcement needds to realize.....every time a dealer/grower gets popped, theres 5 people willing to take his or her place. Also, a lot of growers perfer to NOT market their stuff locally, as the further away the grower is from where it hits the street, the safer he is.....He'd rather have it sold somewhere where theres no to little chance of his name ever being attached to the weed in any way
yeah i've noticed that most of my main dealers seem to get their weed mostly from chicago or wisconsin. plus i bet 30,000 plants is peanuts in the big picture.
Marijuana
07-27-2007, 11:49 PM
cops seize 30,000 plants near my town 
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