Officers in Calaveras, Fresno, Madera, and Tulare Counties seized between 4,000 and 14,000 plants in operations in August and September 2000. Madera County officials expect a bumper crop of marijuana in 2000. Eradicating plants at such sites is expensive and time-consuming. Although most marijuana grown around San Jose is grown indoors, there has been a huge increase in outdoor grows operated by Mexican nationals in the last 2-3 years. Located in remote areas on federal and ranch lands, these grows have exceeded 50,000 plants.
Illegal migrants live at the grow sites tending the plants.
Because the sites are so remote, cultivators can spot law enforcement officers coming and have sufficient time to evade capture. Most marijuana in Fresno is cultivated locally by Mexican nationals using remote areas in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Difficulties in prosecuting marijuana cultivators and users cause law enforcement to concentrate on violations related to other drugs. Asian growers in Northern California have sometimes cultivated cannabis intermixed with other crops, using legitimate agriculture as a cover for their grows. Transportation Mexican groups use the same methods to transport marijuana as methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin.