KBC  (posted to KBC 10/1/04),

The Mexican Mafia has become very strong in the states and our remote rural area is a focus area, because our sheriff is hot on their trail. We are close to tying the Green movement with the illegal marijuana trade and Mexican Mafia.

Those in other areas should take a closer look at their Green groups and see what they are tied to. There is a lot of  $$ in the illegal drug trade to add support to Green enviro groups -- and is another reason to get rural folks off the land and out of the forests.

More than $50 million in marijuana plants have been confiscated in just a few weeks in Siskiyou County, California.

Following this article, will be our newest release about the buck hunter that found a Mexican plantation just 3 miles from our small town of Etna.

Thank you so much

Liz Bowen, Assistant Editor, Pioneer Press

Subject:

CALIFORNIA – Siskiyou sheriff pounds Mexican pot trade

The Pioneer Press, at the very top of the State of California, grants permission for this article to be copied and forwarded.


Pioneer Press, Fort Jones, California
Wednesday, 2004

Vol. 32, No. 45
Page A1, column 2

Mexican pot trade pounded by Siskiyou sheriff -- Pot raids worth up to $50 million.-- Leaders of Mexican meth and pot organization arrested after intense surveillance by sheriff, state and feds.

By Daniel Webster, Pioneer Press Editor

SCOTT BAR, CALIFORNIA – Siskiyou County Sheriff Rick Riggins isn’t pulling any punches and is taking down the local pot trade. His first big annihilation is the Lua Organization, a Mexican family which reportedly monopolizes the methamphetamine and marijuana trafficking in Sacramento, California.

To date, more than 10,000 marijuana plants, assault weapons, including a 9 mm semi-automatic sub-machine gun and documentation of thousands of dollars in wire transfers have been confiscated by law enforcement.

Since March, federal and state authorities, have been using global positioning satellites (GPS), telephone wire taps, ground and aerial surveillance, confidential informants and cameras to track the alleged co-conspirators of the alleged Sacramento’s largest drug family, according to Sheriff Riggins.

On Sept. 22, 2004, federal prosecutors anticipated a federal grand jury would hand down indictments for Saul Lua-Valencia, Pablo Aguilar, Omar Lua-Zaragoza, Oscar Lua-Zaragoza, Rafael Lua-Zaragoza and Jose Lua-Zaragoza, several suspected leaders in the drug organization.

The sheriff’s department has raided four of their gardens so far. Riggins told the Pioneer Press, on Sept. 17, that he and the feds are bringing down their "head honchos."

The surveillance has been extensive to the point of knowing where they were allegedly renting cars and trucks and buying supplies.

Law enforcement went to the markets where they were buying food and marked the packages with invisible ink, ultimately finding the marked packages as part of the trash left in our local mountains at the plantations sites.

Marijuana harvest and buck hunting seasons coincide and sometimes collide here in Siskiyou County.

Riggins encourages hunters to be cautious and aware while out in the mountains.

"If you see something suspicious, don’t go in and investigate – just leave," he encouraged and then call the sheriff with what you saw.

Riggins isn’t idly standing by. He wants to make the mountains safe for hunters and hikers. He’s brought in the whole enchilada to fight the drug industry, local, state and federal teams and they are seeing arrests in Siskiyou.

The marijuana plants eradicated by the sheriff in these raids are secured for federal authorities and taken out according to their directions. The plants are then turned over to the authorities.

More than 10,000 plants have been taken out from just the Lua organization’s plantations. The sheriff believes each plant is worth $3,000 to $5,000, giving these raids an upwards value of $50 million.

"We’re still looking and searching," Riggins told the Pioneer Press.

But, the problem he’s running into is that he must take into foremost consideration his officer’s safety. Which means more bodies are needed, causing more cost. And his contracting with a helicopter is expensive, But that’s not stopping him.

"We’re not finished. We’ve just started," he said. "We’ll get this season out and next year we’ll be even better."

He’s watching the state and federal authorities working in concert with his local men and women.

"We’re all working together. That is the key," he said.

PHOTOS -- Included pictures of the "hooch" as the living and working quarters built in the middle of the plantation. Nearby was a trash pit and the trash was left in the Klamath National Forest.

Boxes in the trash were marked with invisible ink by law enforcement in stores before it was purchased, so it could be tracked to the mountains in Siskiyou County.

One of the most important finds were books and ledgers written in Spanish that indicated the Lua family was involved.