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International drug cartels are illegally draining precious resources from California to grow plants, a state senator has warned.
Growers are buying up vacant lots and houses, creating elaborate greenhouses and farms that pull much-needed resources from Californians struggling under water rationing and electric brownouts.
State Sen. Melissa Hurtado told the Washington Examiner many of the property owners belong to cartels in China and Russia.
HAS CRIME INCREASED IN STATES THAT LEGALIZED MARIJUANA?
Melissa HurtadoMexican cartels have been farming on a small scale for decades, but this new breed of criminal enterprise is alarming, Sgt. Mike Charman of the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Department said.
“The punishment is so minimal and the reward is so great, there is no incentive to follow the rules,” he said. “If you get caught, it’s no big deal. The teeth to the law are just not there. The state wanted to bring in revenue with marijuana licenses, and now, we have this problem.”
The nation’s most liberal state was the first to legalize medical marijuana in 1996, and since then, recreational use has become legal as well in all Western states. Now, the repercussions are thousands of farms covering the state using billions of gallons of water per year that should be going to homes and farmers, Hurtado, who represents a large farming district in the middle of the state, said.
Punishments are slim to none because of state laws, usually just a citation. Unlawful marijuana cultivation and possession with intent to sell are both misdemeanors whether the culprit has 100 plants or 100,000. Commercial growers need a state permit to operate.
“We are going to have to start prioritizing what is important to us, and it boils down to water for health and water for food,” Hurtado told the Washington Examiner. “The status quo for legal marijuana is not going to cut it for us. My fear is that it’s going to be too late before people realize the legalization of marijuana was a mistake because of the cost to the environment.”
CALIFORNIA DAWDLES OVER FIXING ARSENIC LADEN TAP WATER FOR TENS OF THOUSANDS: AUDIT
Law enforcement typically receives tips of illegal operations, and when landowners can’t produce a license, the property is shut down and plants are seized. However, the cartels soon open shop in another location, Charman said.
Typically, owners will claim they are renting the space to a tenant and have no knowledge of the situation. Others have found that squatters moved in and seized control of their land.
Once the growers move into a location, they often begin tapping into a neighborhood well or the main line from a water district. Pretty soon, someone will turn on their tap and nothing comes out, Hurtado said.
“The problem is that there hasn’t been a focus from the state to partner up with the federal government to tackle the illegal groves. They are out of control,” she said. “Unless you have the federal government looking into the actual company, there is only so much the state can do and find out about these bad actors and their financial schemes.”
As a result, Hurtado sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on May 17, asking for his help investigating farms along with other illicit purchases of water rights by hedge funds going through third parties. The Department of Justice did not respond to her letter or a request for comment by the Washington Examiner.
“As one example, though legalization of marijuana in California has made marijuana readily available to those that wish to use it, the illicit market … persists. Recent investigations have cited complex operations involving the purchase or leasing of land and water rights to support substantial grows,” Hurtado wrote.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“California is also tackling water theft for illegal pot grows. In California alone, since 2013, it is estimated that as much as 12 billion gallons of water has been stolen,” she added.
The State Water Board said felony prosecutions are possible for growers if the farm affects waterways including rivers, streams, lakes, or groundwater through the illegal dumping of waste. Hurtado said she doubts this ever happens because the Water Board has been a “mess” and “the Water Board needs to go.”
