Mexican cartels grow marijuana in 20 states of the U.S.
They protect them with amateur mines and armed men.
Washington, DC - Mexican organized crime cartels maintain marijuana farms in 20 states and 67 national forests in the U.S., which are protected by armed men and occasionally with amateur mines, said United States government employees on Wednesday.
Appearing in court before a hearing organized by the International Narcotics Control Caucus, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Gil Kerlikowske said that Mexican cartels are "disproportionately represented" in the marijuana farms of the U.S., but it has not been established if they are following direct instructions from Mexico.
"Criminal groups benefit from remote areas that permit the traffickers to operate marijuana cultivation on a grande scale, limiting the possibility of being detected, and without posessing any land that could be confiscated," said Kerlikowske.
The Director of Investigations of the US Forest Service David Ferrell indicated that during the last 5 years, 80 per cent of those detained for their involvement with marijuana cultivation have been Mexicans lacking the required documentation to live in the United States.
A severe environmental impact
According to Ferrell, between 2005 and 2010, close to 3,900 marijuana farms were eradicated in lands belonging to the federal government, which represent a severe environmental impact, not only because the lands are deforested or because of the reduction of natural river beds by the large quantities of water transported for irrigation purposes, but because of the use of herbicides and pesticides.
The democratic senator Dianne Feinstein pointed out that the authorities recently detected the Mexican cartel Familia Michoacan trying to obtain licenses to legally grow marijuana in California under the pretense of assigning it to medicinal ends, but with the real intention of trafficking it to neighboring states.
Feinstein indicated that this year there have been 12 registered homicides and 62 seized weapons at farms located in California.
"We have to do something to stop this. The situation in California is terrible," said Feinstein, who pointed out that the laws regarding the medical use of marijuana, valid in 16 states and the District of Columbia, complicate the efforts of authorities to eradicate illegal marijuana.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario