Agents to Hear From Public on Pot Raids

REDWAY, Calif. —  Residents in the heart of California’s marijuana-growing region, angered at pot raiders’ tactics during “Operation Greensweep” nearly a decade ago, are gathering for an unusual public hearing to advise drug agents on future raids.

Organizers of the two-day event, complete with a court reporter to provide a stenographic record and a retired appellate judge with the authority to issue findings, want residents to have a say in a new handbook that authorities are writing to govern agents’ conduct.

The book will serve as a bible for authorities during the annual raids targeting marijuana plantations in California’s northern coastal hills, particularly in Humboldt and Mendocino counties. The two areas, scenic, rugged and isolated, are the richest marijuana-growing areas in the nation.

Federal authorities, concerned about security and other issues, were uncertain whether to attend the hearing, which begins today on a federal holiday.

But the Bureau of Land Management said Friday the period for public comment had been extended to allow testimony from the hearing to be included in the official record.

The hearing is the latest wrinkle in a lengthy legal battle over Operation Greensweep, a joint federal-state-local campaign in August 1990 that included agents with semiautomatic weapons, low-flying Blackhawk helicopters, and Army troops that traversed the hills hunting down marijuana plantations. In one area known as the “Emerald Triangle” authorities reportedly seized 1,100 marijuana plants and more than eight tons of cultivation gear.

Shortly after the raids, which received national attention, local residents, backed by civil liberties groups, filed a lawsuit alleging that the raiders violated federal law by conducting warrantless searches, used excessive force, damaged the environment and illegally detained suspects. They also contended that use of Army troops violated the Defense Authorization Act.

Two years after Operation Greensweep, U.S. District Judge Fern M. Smith called the allegations “serious and troubling” and allowed the case to proceed. Over the years, the constitutional issues were partly resolved, but the question of the raids’ environmental impact remains.

Last June, Smith approved a settlement that requires the federal government to be sensitive to environmental concerns during raids on BLM land in Northern California.

The Redway hearing stems from that settlement, under which an array of law enforcement agencies that participate in the raids, such as the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, will be required to come up with formal guidelines governing future raids.

A related action filed last year in state court in Humboldt County contends that the use of state funds in marijuana raids violates California environmental laws.