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MyspaceA week-long investigation by U.S. Forest Service special agents, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Narcotics Unit, and Fire investigators revealed that the origin of La Brea fire is the result of a marijuana drug trafficking operation. Specifically, officials believe the fire started from flames or sparks from a campfire used for cooking.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Narcotics Unit has confirmed that the camp at the origin of the fire was an illegal marijuana operation believed to be headed by a Mexican drug organization.
At the intersection of Owl Canyon and the south fork of La Brea Canyon, near a backpacker’s campground known as Cuchadas, the fire began in one of the most remote and overgrown sections of the San Rafael Wilderness. The camp is several miles inside the area and approximately two air miles south of the Sierra Madre Ridge.
Evidence of the garden, which did not burn during the fire, was discovered in the past few days. The Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Narcotics Unit, which has been working to eradicate other cultivation sites in nearby parts of the back country, believes the suspects are still within the San Rafael Wilderness and may be trying to leave the area on foot.
Officials warn not to approach anyone who looks suspicious but to instead contact the nearest law enforcement agency. Anyone with further information is urged to contact U.S. Forest Service, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, or local law enforcement agencies.
La Brea Fire Tip Line is still open, and anyone with additional information helpful to this ongoing investigation is urged to contact investigators at (805) 686-5074; your call can remain anonymous.
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Comments
In order to avoid such tragic fires in the future caused by illegal marijuana grow operations, we should legalize marijuana and license farmers to grow it on farms.
Tell your legislators in Sacramento to legalize marijuana now. Visit http://yes390.org
AB390 (anonymous profile)
August 16, 2009 at 8:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeah ~ legalize dope! So it won't burn us.
Lol!
GoletaResident (anonymous profile)
August 16, 2009 at 10:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The Star~Gazer:
"Oh, how beautiful is the night; the stars truly do speak to me! Oh, please stars, tell me the meaning of the human life!"
The Stars:
"You stupid idiot ~ Go figure it out for yourself!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GoletaResident (anonymous profile)
August 16, 2009 at 10:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
U C ~ you guys hated GR the last go~around(s) but some of my comments still do create a smile on your face!
Damned libls!
GoletaResident (anonymous profile)
August 16, 2009 at 11:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Ah...just smelled the smoke man...wow...it was like...man, so cool, very relaxzing. ZZzzzz
sixdolphins (anonymous profile)
August 17, 2009 at 1:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
GoletaResident, your tyranny is not a conservative viewpoint, and as a conservative, I hope that you stop trying to mingle your brand of fascism with real American values. These include individual freedom and the right to do whatever you want as long as you don't harm others or their property.
The fact that you want to use force against other individuals to stop them from growing a plant on their own property tells me that you do not in fact believe in individual liberty, and it is truly shameful that the majority of so-called conservatives in this country have become statist.
loonpt (anonymous profile)
August 18, 2009 at 9:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The fire was not caused by 'marijuana cultivation', either. The title of the article really should be changed.
The fact that there were campers out there taking care of the cannabis is a result of prohibition. Private property owners are threatened with land seizure if they grow on their own property, so the growing ends up occurring in some very remote locations. So technically the title of the article should say that the fire was caused by cannabis prohibition.
loonpt (anonymous profile)
August 18, 2009 at 10:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The cartels would be poorer and our public lands safer if we implemented a Personal Use and Cultivation Permit: $100 per year for a dozen plants. Split the proceeds between the States and the Fed.
Let's put the cartels out of business.
Let ordinary Americans grow a little marijuana in their own back yards.
Conservative_Christian (anonymous profile)
August 18, 2009 at 10:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
How do we know that it is a Mexican cartel? Why can't the flower growers in Carpinteria grow cannibis? Legalize growing operations and tax the growers and sellers.
Golgo13 (anonymous profile)
August 18, 2009 at 1:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I hope that whoever so carelessly abused our precious forest are caught and punished. However, just as in our nation's first experiment with prohibition, as long as the black market profit incentives remain in place others will inevitably take their place and cause more destruction.
In February, state Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, introduced a bill that would allow adults 21 and older to legally possess, grow and sell marijuana. AB 390 seeks to tax and regulate the use of marijuana by adults age 21 and over. A fiscal analysis of this proposal by the State Board of Equalization estimates that AB 390 could raise about $1.4 billion yearly in tax revenue for the state of California. The report estimates that marijuana retail sales would bring $990 million from the bill's proposed $50-per-ounce fee and $392 million in sales taxes.
In addition to raising needed state revenue, taxing and regulating marijuana would end the environmental damage to California's public lands from the cultivation of illicit crops; and improve public safety by redirecting law enforcement efforts to focus on more serious crime.
4beatgait (anonymous profile)
August 19, 2009 at 7:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)