Valley pot raids puts county on pace to be No. 1 in state for seizures

YAKIMA -- Marijuana grows are infesting the fruit bowl of Central Washington and their value in Yakima County alone this year will likely surpass the state's entire grape crop.

Most of the illegal grows are being found in various vineyards being leased or recently purchased in the Lower Valley and on the Yakama reservation.

Drug agents in the Lower Valley this summer have already broken up nine major marijuana grows totaling an estimated 142,570 plants worth more than $140 million, and an annual statewide emphasis geared to uproot illegal grows hasn't even begun yet.

Last year, the state's crop of all grapes was valued at about $144 million, according to Washington Agricultural Statistics Services.

"We could get double what we have now," said Sgt. Rick Beghtol, supervisor of Law Enforcement Against Drugs, a Lower Valley task force. "I'm very confident that we are. We're going to get 200,000 plants out of here."

That would make Yakima County No. 1 for such seizures in the state, which ranks among the top three in the nation for such grows, he said.

Last year, officials seized 296,611 plants from outdoor grows statewide and estimate this figure represents only about 10 percent of the illicit crop.

On Friday, Beghtol's eight-member task force descended on a 20,000-plant grow near the intersection of Fort and Ashue roads outside Toppenish, their third large bust in as many days.

Responding to a morning tip from a nearby hop farmer, drug agents quickly arrived on the scene and arrested two men.

Thousands of plants were found hanging in a large outbuilding on the property. Drug agents also took out plants still left in the roughly 30-acre vineyard. A truck filled with the marijuana rolled from the fields to a nearby trailer in which agents loaded the plants to be taken into evidence.

Beghtol believes all of the large marijuana grows recently uncovered are linked to one organization willing to make large investments to keep the operations going, and he's putting together evidence that he hopes will initiate a federal indictment.

There are also reports of farmers being randomly approached by men seeking to buy their vineyards, and they're willing to pay exorbitant prices, he said.

One farmer wasn't looking to sell, but accepted more than $260,000 he was offered for his 27 acres that was later turned into a marijuana grow, Beghtol said.

Other farmers have reported being asked to rent out their large shops for $10,000 a month without being told what they'd be used for, he said.

Most of the grows discovered are in poorly maintained vineyards with large shops that are later used for drying and processing marijuana, he said.

The name of one man on the lease of a vineyard recently busted was found on the utility bill of another vineyard being used as a grow, he said.

Beghtol estimates the buying and leasing of vineyards has been going on for the past five years, and his crew is now putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

"That's what leads me to believe that this is an organization rather than people operating independently," he said. "We're starting to paint a pretty good picture."

His goal: Uproot all of the major grows and take down the big guys.

So far, raids have led to 23 arrests.

"We're going to make a significant dent in all the major grows," he said. "The ones (tending the grows) are only getting paid piecework. The one at the top of the food chain is the guy I'm after."

There are telltale signs of such grows: unkept vineyards, large amounts of irrigation water being used and grapes being cut from the vines too soon.

And growers here are now getting leery of authorities, as some of Friday's grow appeared to have been harvested prematurely.

"I think they are trying to cut their losses, harvest what they can and get rid of them," he said.

The past two weeks have been especially busy for Beghtol's task force, each member logging about 30 hours of overtime, totaling about $30,000, he said.

"We're tired," he said. "We've been run ragged the past two weeks, but we are disrupting a major organization. That's the reward."

For years, the Yakima Valley has had an established criminal network from Mexico operating here and has served as a major hub for drugs headed in all directions, he said.

"We ship it all over the place," he said.

Most of the major marijuana growers actually live here and have strong ties to families of organized crime in Mexico, he said, noting that criminals only account for 2 percent of the immigrant work force in the Valley.

While marijuana grown here is sold in Central Washington and elsewhere, most of the profits are sent to Mexico, he said.

But the impacts of his task force are now being felt on the streets, he said.

"There's no doubt about it," he said. "In fact, there are people on the streets that are saying that marijuana is getting hard to come by."

* Phil Ferolito can be reached at 577-7749 or pferolito@yakimaherald.com.