Rep. Mike Garcia: Black market pot, our open border, lax law enforcement – how we fought back in my district

In California’s 25th Borough – just an hour’s drive from downtown Los Angeles – there’s a perfect storm that shows what happens when you combine open borders with breaking the law.

A few months ago, I started hearing from my constituents how the lands of the Antelope Valley were being overrun with large-scale grow houses producing black market marijuana that was not authorized by the state process.

These “illegal marijuana crops” are mostly managed by transnational criminal organizations and exploited by around 95% of illegal immigrants serving as indentured servants. There are thousands of such massive illegal operations in California’s 25th District alone, but more throughout the region.

The criminals who run these illegal crops steal water and other resources, threatening community members with violence, trafficking in illegal immigrants, and laundering billions of dollars.

ARRESTS OF CRIMINAL MIGRANTS, INCLUDING SENTENCES FOR SEXUAL CRIMES, DRUGS AND HOMICIDES, INCREASED IN FISCAL 2021

I organized several community meetings with constituents on this topic and did a helicopter tour of illegal crops with a detective from the LA County Sheriff’s Department in April 2021 and again in May 2021. What I saw and hearing left me shocked and horrified.

An illegal marijuana cultivation operation erupted during the raid.

It was frustrating that little action was being taken against illegal cultivation – I knew that had to change. As a member of the House Appropriations Committee, I was able to secure funding for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to help tackle the issue and get U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to engage with me at a hearing. that he would ask the DEA to review. the problem.

Recently, we finally saw law and order take hold in what had become the Old West. We had the combined forces of local, state and federal law enforcement, which resulted in the largest illegal drug raid in LA County history and one of the largest in the country. The LA County Sheriff’s Department confiscated $ 1.2 billion in illegally cultivated marijuana, 131 arrests were made, 180 animals were rescued, and numerous guns were seized.

Unlicensed weapons confiscated during the raid.

Unlicensed weapons confiscated during the raid. Photo courtesy of the LA County Sheriff’s Department.

While these illegal crops have been a problem for years, the problem has worsened considerably in recent months – fueled both by calls for police funding and the failure of the Biden administration to secure the border.

GOP REP WARNS “NO OPERATIONAL CHECKS” OF THE BORDER AFTER SEEING MIGRANTS ENTERING, BOARDING FLIGHTS

Criminals who farmed the illegal crops thought they might get away with residing in LA County – where figures like LA District Attorney George Gascon are accused of law enforcement – and we all know that the LA Gascon district attorney seems to prefer lawlessness to law and order.

It is a bear that died from pesticides left in the area by illegal cultivators. These deadly chemicals can harm animals and humans.

The operators of the illegal crops were at little risk – that is, until community members, local officials, myself and my fellow California Republicans said enough was enough and called for it to be done. ‘action.

I am grateful that LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva also recognized the imminent danger the residents face and joined us in our mission to end the lawlessness.

We have reversed the risk / reward matrix on the bad actors in the Antelope Valley, which we also need to do at the national level.

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If we are to continue to fight lawlessness actions in California and across the country, we must continue to fund and support our law enforcement and secure the border. If we are to ensure safety in neighborhoods across the United States, we must fight for safety on all fronts.

In America, we are the land of the free because of the brave. But when we fail to provide the courageous men and women who protect us, both abroad and at home, with the support they need to do their jobs, we suffer as a nation. When the safety of our nation is threatened, so is the safety of our neighborhood.

Rep. Garcia and Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva inspect black market marijuana seized during a raid.
(Courtesy of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department)

Some mistakenly believe that our country’s lack of border security is not a crisis and has no impact on them. There is an equally false notion that funding police will reduce crime and make our communities safer.

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Too many people in America do not understand how neighborhood safety is intertwined with national security. Lack of law and order at the border and in American cities, combined with calls for police funding, has created a crime crisis in our great country.

America must stop bowing down to enemies abroad and on our homeland and start enforcing the law and ensuring that our nation remains safe and secure. In Congress, just as I did as a US Navy fighter pilot, I will fight for security on all fronts – from the neighborhoods of California’s 25th District to our borders and our allies to the ‘foreigner.

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