First District Congressman James Gallagher is calling on FBI Director Kash Patel to launch an eradication campaign against large cannabis operations in Shasta and Siskiyou Counties, and the sheriffs of both counties have voiced their support for federal involvement. Neither county will be in District One starting next year. Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah Larue says his office has made over 800 cultivation-related arrests in the past 5 years with very little help from state or federal agencies. Last year his deputies destroyed 332,000 plants and 54,000 Pounds of processed bud. A Grand Jury report 4 years ago estimated 5,000 large scale grow sites in the Mount Shasta Vista Subdivision were yielding up to $2 Billion annually. Gallagher and Sheriff Larue suspect the trade is coordinated by Chinese organized crime networks.
-Steve Gibson