Large marijuana operations — such as the 40,000-plant farm raided by county narcotics agents Monday — are typical of those run by Mexican drug cartels, officials said Tuesday.

“That's the norm,” said Special Agent Michelle Gregory of the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement. “That's the difference between the drug trafficking organizations and the ma-and-pa growers.”

Monday's raid by the Nevada County Sheriff's Narcotics Task Force and SWAT team revealed the plantation scattered along several terraced ridges on property between Mooney Flat Road and Houghton Ranch Road. The operation included about 10,000 plants in beds in the ground and about 30,000 more starter plants in Styrofoam cups.

“We had 18 guys out there destroying everything,” said Nevada County Sheriff's Lt. Joe Salivar of the narcotics task force. “We literally had officers on their hands and knees, pulling the plants out of the ground. They actually count every plant they yank out of there.”

Different business models

The Styrofoam planter cups each had about 10 to 22 seedlings and were lined up on the ground in cleared plots of about 10 feet by 25 feet, Salivar said.

“They probably started them right there,” he said. “It's a lot safer; they're not transporting anything. Meanwhile, they're working on terracing and the irrigation lines.”

When the seedlings are large enough to transplant, growers typically separate them out a little bit before planting them in the ground, Salivar said.

Finding more than one plant in a hole is typical of the Mexican operations, Gregory said.

At sites controlled by Asian cartels, “you'll see cleaner grow sites; the plants tend to be cloned plants that they've brought out to the site,” she said. “There will be one plant per hole.”

In Mexican operations, it's not unusual to find tens of t

housands of marijuana plants in several different locations, Gregory said.

“You might find 60,000 plants scattered in the area,” she said. “It's all about generating the money.”

And that money is used to fund the rest of the cartel's criminal activities, she said.

“These are trafficking organizations, not only in marijuana, but also cocaine and methamphetamine, weapons, human trafficking,” Gregory said. “The odds are we'll find one or two, so they're betting, if they plant in several different locations, they'll still be able to harvest. They've got to get the odds up; that's why you see so many.”

While Asian plantations tend to be farther north — in Redding or Mendocino County — the Mexican cartel plantations can be found “all over the state,” Gregory said.

“In Mexico, the cartels are fighting for territory and for land,” she said. “It's easier to come up here; there's land aplenty.”

And once the pot is harvested, distribution is that much easier, said Salivar.

“If you can get your labor up here and grow, when you harvest, the product is already across the border,” he said. “You can drive it wherever you want. You've crossed a big hurdle ahead of time. You don't have to worry about customs or Border Patrol.”

Narcotics agents found documentation at the campsite that they have been able to track back to Mexico, Salivar said, adding they're trying to find the suspected growers.

To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4229.