$100 million find at Austin Creek in 2005 reflects pattern throughout West

The Mexican marijuana connection is being felt in Sonoma County, across the state and throughout the West.

In July 2005, authorities estimated $100million worth of illicit dope was found growing in scattered gardens totaling about 45,000 plants in a remote section of Austin Creek State Recreation Area.

Until then, the largest amount ever confiscated in Sonoma County was about 10,000 plants, authorities said.

Sheriff's Sgt. Chris Bertoli at the time said he believed Mexican drug operators were behind the west county plantation.

Last week in El Dorado County, federal drug agents linked a 2,000-plant operation to a Southern California gang that in turn is suspected of being connected to the "Mexican Mafia," the Sacramento Bee reported.

"This is organized crime, and that is what we are finding with a lot of these operations that use Mexican nationals," Gordon Taylor, a special agent for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, told the Bee.

In Utah, two men were arrested last week near Bryce Canyon where investigators found a 5,400-plant operation.

Charlie Vaughn, a Forest Service special agent, told Salt Lake City's Deseret Morning News, "There are telltale signs pointing to the Mexican Mafia."

"Historically, they have illegal aliens working the grows (pot gardens). They don't speak English, and their sole purpose is to grow marijuana," Vaughn said.

Despite the high profile of myriad drug agencies, the U.S. Justice Department's National Drug Intelligence Center concluded last year in a special report that Mexican-dominated marijuana production within U.S. borders will continue to soar.

"Cannabis cultivation by Mexican drug trafficking operations on federal lands likely will increase despite the considerable efforts of the Forest Service, and the Department of Interior," according to the report.