The Toxic Garbage From Cartel Cannabis Grows Hiding in Washington’s Forests

During my years as The Ghost I spent alot of time out and about. And I have seen things hiding in Washington’s forests that few people ever see.

I handled guerrilla growing like it was a job and spent 40 hours a week taking care of things. This would also always include exploring new ground, and I loved to…’go deep’…farther then most people ever hike.

This would take me out 5-10 miles, out where you see not human tracks or signs of activity. And, this is precisely where the cartels would grow their weed.

Over the years I have found 5 or 6 big commercial cannabis grows. Most of them Mexican cartels. I found all but one after they had been busted. Ghost towns of the cannabis guerrilla growing trade.

The one that was not busted was a very scary situation…I will write an article about that one next so watch for that.

Toxic Garbage Left Everywhere at Cartel Cannabis Grows

This article will be about those I found that the cops/feds had already found. It was easy to tell they were Mexican growers because of the garbage, yes, the powers that be just leave all their garbage. There would be lots of product garbage that actually came from Mexico, there would be the Virgin Mary candles, and lots of hot sauce bottles! Also lots of things like barbecues, propane bottles…some still full of propane, carts they would load up with supplies to bring in. Some of these sites had been grown in for years…lots of stuff. I have seen 5 tents, still set up, and all the garbage created in several years by many people. Some of these grows were 10 or more people.

These grows I would spend time exploring and taking it all in. Some where literally close to an acre, Thousands, and thousands of plants had been grown there every year…usually hand watered. These grows were all close to a water source, I saw now dug wells, nor any real irrigation lines.

Another thing of interest I saw at all the grows was used containers….lots of them…of dangerous chemicals…Sevin, Malathon, Diazinon, to name a few. These were sprayed on the plants…one reason I always grow my own….

Legalization Has Killed the Cartel Grows…Thankfully!

With legalization…the profitability of guerrilla grown cannabis decreased dramatically. So I have to think these large commercial grows are a thing of the past. I have not seen any sign of one in many years, although at 73 I do not go nearly as deep as I used to.

In Washington state I doubt anyone really grows guerrilla much these days. With 20 dollar eighths easily available at a rec shop…no one does the work anymore. While a small grow for personal use does not generally hurt the environment much…those big cartel grows certainly did. I am glad legalization brought them to an end….although their scars on the land remain.

Booby Traps at Large Commercial Cannabis Grows

I found this interesting and I think you will too. Whenever I would find one of these grows I would always look very carefully for booby traps. I would tend to not use their trails, except right where they all worked. Farther out from the grow (only found this on one of the grows) I would see home made booby traps…specifically those that the Viet Con used in that war. A hole dug in a trail that went around the outskirts of the grow, with sharpened stakes pounded in the bottom of the hole.

You go down in one of those hard, and you are likley done for the day.

Conclusion

I felt this story needed to be told. A reality you would never hear from anyone else. Do you have any stories about any of this? I would love to hear them…let’s talk shop.