Team Arigatou

oCultivating marijuana in Indian country represents a new twist in the decades-old illicit drug trade between Mexico and the U.S.

oFor the last couple decades Mexican drug gangs would grow their marijuana in Mexico and smuggle it across U.S. borders. But recently they have decided to start growing it in the U.S. thus eliminating smuggling costs.

The U.S. Forest Service has discovered pot farms in 61 national forests across 16 states this year, up from 49 forests in 10 states last year. New territories include public land in Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, Alabama and Virginia.

Illicit pot farms, the vast majority run by gangs with ties to Mexico, are growing fast across the country.

•Indian reservations are becoming a major target for these Mexican gangs in states ranging from California to South Dakota.

•There has been 10 times as much Pot seized this year from all U.S. pot farms than there was in all of 2006.

•The pot recovered from marijuana farms on Indian Reservations accounts for almost half of all pot recovered

•"These criminal organizations are growing in Indian country at an alarming rate," says Chief Smith. "The [growers] on our reservation were sent directly from Mexico.”

• A major reason for the increase in growing pot on reservations is because with increased border security it becomes easier and less risky to just grow pot on this side of the border.

A field in Washington's Yakama Reservation featured a makeshift shrine to JesúsMalverde, the unofficial patron saint of smugglers, complete with votive candles.

The math is tempting…

Start-up expense for about dozen plots, with 10,000 plants each, is well under $500,000, U.S. officials estimate.

Those plants could fetch about $120 million on the open market.

With such impressive profit margins, a gang leader could afford to have dozens of farms spotted and destroyed by police for every one that it harvests successfully.

Héctor Castillo Oscar Castillo-Zapién,

Evan Michael Nelson Alejandro ZapiénHéctor Castillo

These four were arrested in the Warm Springs Reservation bust recently

Mexico-based cartels exploit several conditions unique to reservations, starting with chronically understaffed tribal police departments.

Colville Reservation is 2,200 square miles and patrolled by just 19 tribal police officers.

There is enough money involved in growing to tempt some legal residents especially in this daunting economy.

-A legal Mexican resident in Oregon rented his empty barn out to gang members in September because he was being offered thousands of dollars a day.

A marijuana plot hidden in the forest in Washington State.

Indian reservations are full of transients, either people from other tribes whose members have married into local families, or undocumented farm workers from Mexico – both of these factors make it easier for gang members to blend in on reservations

•At first, the Mexican suspects thought operating on tribal land shielded them from prosecution.

• While the tribal court declined to prosecute, federal authorities were eager to take the case.

•U.S. attorney in Portland allowed the five defendants to plead guilty to a minor charge of "conspiracy to manufacture marijuana," and receive sentences of up to 70 months in prison.

•Four are now serving time in U.S. federal prisons.

As can be seen the production of marijuana can be a very profitable business, however the fact that it is illegal adds a much higher risk factor that many will wisely choose to avoid.

Harboring the gang members is cheap as far as financial costs but again it is illegal.

You could go out and search Indian Reserves to try and find Marijuana plots and attempt to harvest them and sell what you can for a profit

Apply to join the State Forest Patrol as they should be looking to hire more patrol members to shut these farms down.

“Tenders” or workers who tend to and water the plants make $2,000/ week, but again this is illegal and has potentially higher costs then benefits.

On the flip side the U.S. could legalize Marijuana and place a high excise tax on it, helping to lower taxes and the overwhelming national debt.

Millman, Joell. "Mexican Pot Gangs Infiltrate Indian Reservations in U.S.." Wall Street Journal. Nov .5th (2009): A1.