Former BH chief chasing drug lords

By Bill Harlan, Journal staff | Thursday, April 05, 2007

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A former supervisor of the Black Hills National Forest was surprised to learn that the biggest challenge at his new job would be combating highly organized, well-funded and heavily armed marijuana growers.

"I had no idea we had Mexican drug cartels in over 40 of our national forests," John Twiss said in a telephone interview this week from his office in Arlington, Va. "These guys have literally taken over parts of our public lands."

Twiss is head of law enforcement and investigation for the U.S. Forest Service.

Mexican marijuana growers have used federal land in California for more than a decade, but Twiss said relatively new Mexican drug trafficking organizations, or DTOs, now operate on national forests in at least 11 states, from Washington to Georgia.

So far there's no evidence of DTO marijuana "gardens" in the Black Hills, Twiss said. The elevation is right - 3,000 feet to 5,000 feet is best - but the growing season here is short. "They prefer warmer climates," Twiss said.

Twiss oversees a $100 million budget and 500 officers nationwide, but they must cover 192 million acres - or about one officer per 384,000 acres. "We are spread very, very thin," he said.

Twiss will add 60 officers this year.

There are only seven Forest Service law officers to cover South Dakota, Nebraska, most of Wyoming and part of northern Colorado. That's why it's so rare for illegal off-roaders to be caught in the act.

Still, it's unlikely the Black Hills will see significant reinforcements. DTOs trump ATVs. "You've got to look out for public safety first, before you deal with resource damage," Twiss said.

The DTOs use low-level labor on the ground. Typically, the growers will pack into an area early in the growing season, plant seedlings and care for them until harvest in the fall. "They need six to nine months," Twiss said.

The growers plant gardens, or "grows," that are irregularly shaped to avoid detection in the air. "It doesn't require a lot of land," Twiss said. "And these guys are very good at nurturing plants on very steep slopes."

They use black tubing to siphon water from streams for irrigation - sometimes from a mile or two away.

The sites are often booby trapped, and the growers are heavily armed, sometimes with automatic weapons.

Twiss, who is a Vietnam veteran, said Forest Service officers have to use combat techniques to approach the gardens at night, undetected. "You have to be very, very careful because it's so risky," Twiss said.

Growers have shot at Forest Service officers and at hikers and hunters.

Drug trafficking across the Canadian border also is increasing, according to press reports, but Twiss said the border with Mexico remains the most dangerous.

Twiss is an experienced outdoorsman and backpacker, but he said he'd never hike in the southern reaches of the Coronado National Forest, south of Tucson, Ariz., on the border. As many as 4,500 illegal aliens cross the border there every night. "The first 15 miles is unsafe for anyone," Twiss said.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument nearby has been called the most dangerous national park.

Better interdiction on the border, however, has led to DTO gardens on this side of the border, which also has led to environmental problems. Abandoned gardens are often littered with garbage and human waste. Growers also use fertilizers and pesticides, and they cut terraces in steep slopes.

"We need to get them off federal lands," Twiss said.

Contact Bill Harlan at 394-8424 or bill.harlan@rapidcityjournal.com