Weed Country (2013) s01e06 Episode Script
Harvest Hell.
1 Narrator: Previously on "Weed Country" --- The cops flew over B.
E.
Smith's farm, taking photographs for evidence.
Smith: [Bleep.]
You.
Morris: Oh, God.
Those are cops.
Narrator: Nate Morris dodged cops on his way to his secret lab, where he produced a concentrate for Catherine Jacobson's son, Ben, to help treat his epilepsy.
It's really stressful because it's super illegal.
Mike B.
: Tawni! Narrator: Grower Mike Boutin's feud with his neighbor --- Escalated towards violence, causing local law enforcement to show up with a message.
Marijuana is illegal.
I don't support this, and you know that.
And former dispensary owner Matt Shotwell stared down a possible eight-year prison sentence to return to the Emerald Triangle in a desperate attempt to get back into the weed business.
I'm gonna prove everybody wrong, including my girlfriend, including my lawyer, and everybody else that said, "quit the game, walk away.
" Well, guess what.
I'm not.
Narrator: Deep in the heart of the northern California mountains, marijuana growing season is under way.
Shotwell: You're growing in your front yard.
Well, yeah.
This is the Emerald Triangle Ground zero for a multi-billion-dollar marijuana industry.
Originally comprised of three counties covering 10,000 square miles, it's now growing out of control.
I mean, look at the size of that.
It's a decades-old battle between cops It is a problem of epidemic proportions.
- Narrator: Dealers - It's the business that can't fail.
Narrator: And growers Mike B.
: There's nothing more American than a man producing a product that people want.
Narrator: They stand to make millions Or be locked up for years.
Arguably, I just committed a felony.
[Dog barks.]
We got somebody running.
Shotwell: This is Weed Country.
Yeah, I'm breaking the law on TV.
So what? [Siren wails.]
I'm looking forward to seeing some of Mike Boutin's bud, dude.
He should have some good-ass bud for us.
--- Yeah, hopefully there won't be no problems.
Matt Shotwell and his muscle, Skweaz, are headed back up to Grace farms, hoping Mike Boutin's weed will put them back in business.
Shotwell: What I have to do is rebuild this empire, starting all over.
Narrator: Shotwell was at the top of his game, selling marijuana out of his Greenwell dispensary.
I think I've demonstrated what I can do with so little from the beginning of Greenwell to making it the biggest dispensary in northern California.
I'm here in your face, because I want you to see me rebuild it again.
All you cops can watch me do it again.
Narrator: Last year, he was raided and thrown in jail.
[Sighs.]
Oh, it's good to be out.
He was released on bail and greeted by his girlfriend, Soraya.
Moore: I'm just really happy right now.
I've had a huge relief taken off of my chest from the last 14 days.
It's been a very, very long couple weeks.
Man: How's it feel to be out, man? Dude, it feels great.
It feels great.
You know, I was wrongfully incarcerated in the beginning.
Truth's gonna come out in the end.
And God looks out for his people.
And, you know, we're doing the right thing.
Shotwell: Things are going crazy here in California right now.
Everybody's scared.
So I got a game plan.
Getting it farm-direct and taking it to people who don't want to make that drive, people who don't want to take that risk.
Narrator: This isn't the first time a largely illegal substance has been smuggled up and down the pacific coast.
During the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s and '30s, rumrunners would smuggle booze from Canada down the coastline to customers who felt that the law was unjust.
Shotwell: This country was founded on outlaws doing things they weren't supposed to do Breaking the mold.
And that's what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna do that till your pig ass comes and puts me in jail again.
Narrator: Something that his girlfriend, Soraya, worries will happen sooner rather than later.
I hope that he has a plan for himself outside of this industry, because I do believe that Matt's crazy.
And I worry, you know.
Yeah, baby.
It's go time.
Narrator: Shotwell's already facing an eight-year prison sentence and could be headed for more.
Yeah, I'm breaking the law on TV.
So what? Hey, is Burl or Craig around there? Narrator: For cops like Mike Gilley, time is running out.
Hey, Craig, I may want to go back down there and take another look today.
Is that possible? Craig: No problem.
The helicopter's all yours.
Okay.
Thanks, Craig.
Narrator: All across the Emerald Triangle, it's harvest time.
Growers are moving product, and Gilley has a short window to find, investigate, and take down illegal growers.
He suspects a pushing beyond the limits of the law.
--- If they start harvesting and taking the product out, then the dope is gone.
And that is a terrible feeling.
--- Marijuana eradication is what I'm living for.
--- Narrator: All summer long Gilley: We got somebody running.
Narrator: Gilley and his men have taken down illegal grows all throughout the Emerald Triangle Let's go.
Let's go.
Let's go.
But have yet to make an arrest.
Gilley: They just watered.
They were just here.
The harvest is upon him, and as the laws prohibiting marijuana continue to become more lenient, this may be Gilley's last summer to put a dent in an industry he sees spinning out of control.
Gilley: I feel like I'm kind of facing an uphill battle.
People say, "we can tax this, and it's okay, 'cause it's bringing in money.
" Does that make it right? It's more harmful than alcohol.
Should we put another dangerous substance out there? It's like we're slipping deeper into a vortex.
Make one more circle.
Narrator: At Grace farms, Mike and Tawni Boutin are still waiting for their plants to be ready to harvest Mike B.
: A few days too early or too late on any particular strain is going to not give you what you're looking for.
Narrator: Leaving them exposed at the most dangerous time of the year.
Mike B.
: Harvest time is the culmination of all of your work, all of your worry.
It's pressure.
It's stress.
It's frustration.
It's You name it.
It's all rolled together.
It's a big knot in your stomach.
I don't think I'm gonna waste a whole bunch of time with stakes.
Narrator: The Boutins have been going through one of the toughest growing seasons of their 35-year-long career.
Their concealed-weapons permit was revoked, leaving the farm vulnerable to violent attacks.
Their bank account mysteriously closed down.
Closed by who? Oh, by the bank? And an ongoing land dispute with their neighbors You lost again?! --- Brought cops to the farm Marijuana is illegal.
And threatens to tear the couple apart.
Maybe you should stay the [Bleep.]
in this house when they get here.
Tawni: Already told me on the phone, Mike, that we are illegally growing weed on their property, - That's not true.
- and he is gonna take care of it.
He's gonna take care of it! Narrator: Boutin is determined to press on despite the risks.
Mike B.
: Along with the cops, along with the rips, along with weather, you know, then we just have these other problems that, you know, could derail you.
We have a dispute with the neighbor.
So harvest time can be scary because it's like You're almost there.
What's gonna happen? You guys ever heard of scissor sharpeners down here at all? I've been waiting for Santa Claus to bring me new scissors.
- Santa Claus loves weed growers.
- Shh! What? [Helicopter blades whirring.]
Sounds close.
Yeah.
[Whirring continues.]
Sounds low.
Mike B.
: Yeah.
Aw, come on.
[Bleep.]
All right.
Don't do anything dumb.
Don't anybody do anything stupid.
That looks like a pretty good place.
Man: If that's where you want, that's where we'll go.
Mike B.
: They were taking pictures.
It could be a little shot across the bow.
--- Gilley: When we find a target, it's an adrenaline booster and it's a good feeling.
Tawni: That was freaky.
Mike B.
: We got buzzed.
Lopey: Hey, Mike, how you doing? - Good.
How are you? - What's happening? Give me an idea of what we've got going here.
Narrator: Sheriff Jon Lopey has been called over by sergeant Mike Gilley to examine recently captured aerial surveillance photos.
- Boy, that's a lot of plants.
- Gilley: Yeah.
Those plants you know, we're probably looking at six, seven feet around, those plants.
Wow.
- Several pounds a plant, it looks like, huh? - Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
This is a high-dollar crop.
Narrator: It's the biggest grow of the season and can only be the work of a major drug-trafficking organization A drug cartel.
Lopey: The drug cartels are terrorists.
It's narco-terrorism that is being imported from Mexico.
They're gonna use any means to accomplish their goals.
And they will kill.
They will maim.
And they will destroy the environment to cultivate their crops.
It's like these guys are going for broke.
Narrator: Lopey must dispatch his men immediately to take down the violent growers before they harvest their plants.
You have to prioritize and try to hit the bigger sites or perhaps the sites that you think may be harvesting.
If they have any long guns, they're gonna have the marked advantage.
That's for sure.
Gilley: It's a high-risk venture.
Narrator: Lopey worries his men are outgunned.
You know, we're fighting a narco-terrorism war against some people who are very well prepared, because you're talking about millions, if not billions, of dollars being generated.
Gilley: And looking at this, I would need, you know, several platoons to get all the way around this thing.
It's gonna be nasty.
[Bleep.]
They pulled it out of the dirt.
They broke the main roots.
There's really only one [Bleep.]
person that would do this to me.
This right here is so not gonna survive.
Mike B.
: Well, no, I think it's pretty straightforward.
Basically, what I got Everything already out, that they talk about for this.
Narrator: Mike Boutin is setting up a new surveillance system.
During harvest time, the plants are worth more than ever, and he believes it's only a matter of time before thieves come to rip him off.
Just gonna power it up, first off.
And with no guns, he's more vulnerable than he's ever been.
I'm almost ready to, like, be down there sleeping in my crop already.
[Drill whirs.]
So having the camera makes me feel a whole lot better.
[Clicking.]
I think we need to just start tilting down.
It's quite a deterrent for people to know I have a camera system and I can produce dvr evidence against somebody.
See? See? It's the movement.
Lassik right away I saw him.
- I like this a lot.
- Yeah, me too.
That's great.
[Dog barking.]
Grace farms.
Here we go.
This looks familiar.
Shotwell: Me and Skweaz roll up to Boutin's.
I'm a little concerned about how Mike is gonna take Skweaz and the fact that I came up with somebody else unannounced.
What's up, dude? What's up, man? That's my buddy, Skweaz.
You know, buddy system.
- He's my muscle.
- Yeah, yeah, that's Hope you don't mind I brought some muscle up with me.
Mike B.
: Look like you got some muscle.
You don't need muscle here, though.
Well, I got another visit from Matt Shotwell, but this time, he brings company.
That's just not a good way to get me all favorable and, you know, approachable.
It sort of set my teeth on edge a little bit.
Narrator: With Shotwell out on bail and facing charges, his presence is only adding to Boutin's stress.
You got some good trees.
What's that black thing to the right? Mike B.
: It's a new setup.
[Sniffs.]
Man, it's making my nose water, it's so pollinated.
My allergies are going crazy.
[Sniffs.]
[Bleep.]
Perfect.
I'll give you $500 a pound for it.
You move pretty fast.
This is the country.
Right on.
Right on.
That's all good.
You're a city dude, man, and I get that.
But you know what? You got to get where you're at.
Shotwell: You know, Mike is kind of like, "glad to see you, but why are you here?" I'm like, "well, why the hell do you think I'm here, "captain obvious? I'm here to get some cannabis.
" Mike B.
: I don't like to move too fast.
I like to have conversations, especially with people that I'm just sort of getting to know.
Shotwell: I marked it on my calendar, man.
[Bleep.]
I thought you Yeah, well, dude, sorry, man.
I didn't expect that.
Really, I mean I wanted to call, but I didn't want to ask you If we had some sort of understanding, you know, that got by me.
I don't have a problem figuring out a way to work together, but we have a long way to go.
Okay.
Dude, I didn't know you were coming up here.
Right.
Well, let me ask you this, then.
I don't even remember talking about a date last time.
I certainly know we didn't talk about, like, "dude, next time I see you, you know, we're gonna make something happen with weed.
" If we're gonna do something and do it right, we got to start planning it now anyway.
Shotwell: I'll call you.
I didn't want to call.
You should've called me maybe, if it was that important.
I'm not in this to get [Bleep.]
jacked around and [Bleep.]
with.
And I'm not gonna be a sharecropper for anybody.
Dude, I'm not gonna be your [Bleep.]
boy, none of that.
This is country here, and you move real [Bleep.]
fast to suit me.
Well, be straight up with me.
You tell me.
Am I wasting my time up here? I mean We haven't even talked about a lot of things, and you're all, like, hot to trot to get weed from me, and I don't even know what [Bleep.]
talking about for price.
I don't know the legality of how we make a transfer when you're a dispensary owner and I'm a collective farm.
Shotwell: My expectations Get in, get cannabis, get out, get paid.
That's it.
So I just want to talk more.
That's what I'm trying to say.
All right.
You know what? You guys you got bedding? 'Cause I got a teepee that after the dew point comes up a little bit or, you know, comes Get a little moisture in the air in the evenings.
We'll build a fire in there, get the stones all warm.
Uh-huh.
You know what I'm saying? Hang out for a couple days.
Let's talk.
How the [Bleep.]
do we go back to Vallejo with no weed? --- This is a large number of plants.
Narrator: Sergeant Mike Gilley is staring down the barrel of an impending showdown with a drug cartel.
Gilley: We've got to take a whole different look at this, because now we're dealing with a situation that is a S.
W.
A.
T.
Operation in our national forest, and our manpower has been cut back, so you got to collaborate with other counties and other teams.
[Ringing.]
It's Matt.
Gilley: Hey, Matt.
Mike Gilley.
What's going on, Mike? Narrator: Gilley calls Matt Thomson, tactical leader for the Jackson county S.
W.
A.
T.
Team.
We had a kind of a development in this big garden.
Tactically, it's gonna be kind of a nightmare by the way it's located.
Well, it's huge, this one is.
It's one of those, you know, where getting a containment all the way around is almost impossible.
I may end up having to put S.
W.
A.
T.
guys on the top and spook it.
The cartel will do one of two things Flee the grow site or stand their ground and fight.
Gilley and Thomson must be prepared for either.
It's one of those, you know, you kind of roll the dice and hope for the best.
That's why I don't sleep much this time of year.
[Chuckles.]
You and me both.
Looks like they're gonna, they're harvesting.
So I'd like some of your S.
W.
A.
T.
guys on some of these if possible.
Yeah.
You know, whatever you need.
From the border of Mexico, drug cartels are moving northward to the Emerald Triangle to take advantage of the remote location's perfect environment for growing high-quality weed.
They bring with them violent tactics used to intimidate and overpower anyone looking to get in their way, including torture, kidnappings, and beheadings.
Analysts estimate that the cartel's wholesale earnings from illicit drug sales range from $14 billion to $50 billion annually.
[Helicopter blades whirring.]
And the brutal cartels are now in Gilley's backyard.
Okay, man.
Thanks for the help.
-Thomson: All right.
Bye.
- Okay.
[Telephone beeps.]
The timing with these marijuana grows gets really crucial as we get later in the season.
Narrator: He worries they may be too late.
I never know if the plants are there or not, because, you know, once we've spotted them from the air, we do all of our tactical stuff, get prepared for a big show, and it's gone.
I mean, all the plants have been harvested, and we've just given them their crop for that year.
So now they're turning that into millions of dollars in profits for them, plus all the drugs that get out on the street.
So, I mean, that is one of the worst feelings ever.
Skweaz: In the [Bleep.]
teepee.
Shotwell: [Bleep.]
Teepee.
Lot of people said, you know, that I was out of my element.
This is the first time I actually feel that way.
There's hardly any lights out here.
I will never leave this place at dark ever.
If we go home, like, how the [Bleep.]
do we go back to Vallejo with no weed? We'd look the biggest [Bleep.]
idiots - Ever ever! - Ever.
Like, "you guys went up there with money and came back with nothing?" [Scoffs.]
Yeah.
Shotwell: What I have to do is rebuild this empire.
I don't have the resources to do it, and I've come up here to try to make new friends with some new people, and even they're doubting me in who I am and questioning whether they should help me or not.
Man, this is for our patients, bro.
We got to do what we came and set forth to do.
Well, I at least got to get the expenses paid for.
It's not like this is a vacation.
I'm thinking like this, bro.
We don't have to be hard-asses, but --- --- [Engine turns over.]
Narrator: As morning breaks, Tawni Boutin heads to town to pick up her supplies for the farm, while her guests Holy [Bleep.]
Slowly come to life.
Sun rises inside the teepee.
We go inside Mike's house for breakfast.
Hey, hey.
He's making coffee and eggs.
Coffee? No, sir.
It'd run through me.
I'm a little concerned about how Mike wants to take his time up here in the country.
In my world, money talks, and b.
s.
walks.
Well, I got money.
You've got weed.
That's what's going on.
Well, apparently, it doesn't work up here in Grace farms.
- And they were like, "you're cooking.
" - I'm like, "I don't know how to cook [Bleep.]
" - Mike! - What? --- What? What? --- [Bleep.]
Mike B.
: What? --- What? What? --- [Bleep.]
Narrator: Sometime during the night, Mike Boutin's plants were pulled out of the ground.
Mike B.
: I see devastation.
They cut off the plants' lifeline.
They pulled it out of the dirt.
They broke the main roots.
It's sort of like a person sitting there bleeding out.
They didn't even pull them out.
They're just Mike B.
: Well, they [Bleep.]
pulled them out, dude.
Well, I mean, they're not stolen, though.
No, this isn't about [Bleep.]
taking it.
This is about [Bleep.]
[Bleep.]
with me.
See, here's the thing, man.
There's really only one [Bleep.]
person who would do this to me.
The way that crime solvers do it, they ask who has the opportunity, who has the motive, and who has the means.
And I think all of those things point To the neighbor that I'm having the land-use squabble with.
Damn it, Tawni .
I can't [Bleep.]
talk to you when you're gone! [Bleep.]
[Bleep.]
Narrator: Without Tawni, Boutin must perform triage on the dying plants himself.
Taylor, here's what I want you to do.
Take these plants, pick them up Or some of this broken stuff.
Put it up straight up.
Lean it forward that way.
One third of Boutin's crop is now in jeopardy, with a street value of $100,000.
Mike B.
: This right here is so not gonna survive.
As a matter of fact, you know what I got to do? I got to call Nate.
Nate Morris is among a handful of credible cannabis activists in this county and super, super smart.
[Dial tone.]
Morris: What's up, buddy? Yo, man, somebody, like, pulled up every plant in my hoopie last night.
You're [Bleep.]
me.
No, dude.
Aw, dude, I'm sorry.
We came up here to do one thing and one thing only Was to get some [Bleep.]
weed.
Hopefully he'll let me leave with something.
Otherwise, this was a big [Bleep.]
waste of money and time and gas.
Narrator: Moments after learning of Boutin's misfortune, Nate Morris arrives at Grace farms.
Morris: His garden's been cut down.
It sounds really bad.
It's important to me that those plants be healthy, but it sounds like they're dead.
A bunch of them look [Bleep.]
but they're not dead.
It's like these are babies that just got shaken, and they're gonna be stunted.
They're gonna be [Bleep.]
up as a result.
But they're not dead.
They're not a write-off.
They're just, you know, traumatized.
And it's just not gonna put on that awesome weight you'd hope for.
Narrator: Nate can help Boutin salvage the damaged plants, but he's just as concerned with how the plants came to be ripped up in the first place.
Morris: You guys were up in the teepee when this [Bleep.]
went down? - Yeah, apparently.
- Skweaz: Yeah.
Kind of feel low, because I never left the teepee.
So that was before midnight, then? Yeah, I was right here on this Ridge there just up the house.
Skweaz starts in with this, "oh, well, I saw some stuff.
" I just kept seeing this [Bleep.]
flutters of light.
I'm thinking to myself, "okay, why wouldn't you "have, like, marched your ass up to my house and said, 'hey, brother'?" That just stunk to high heaven right off the bat to me.
This is a very atypical robbery.
Nothing about this makes sense.
I figured I'd better tell Shotwell right to his face my concerns.
Just so I've been up-front and honest with you guys, I cautioned him about doing business with you, just 'cause of the legal jeopardy you're in.
The fact that you're looking at such serious charges, like, makes you, you know, kind of a scary dude to work with.
Right now, I'm as free as you are.
I have no stipulations on my bail.
They didn't say I can't buy weed.
They didn't say I couldn't smoke weed.
They didn't say I can't grow weed.
I don't know the terms of your bail, but most bail, like, there's definitely an expectation of you not to commit more crimes.
I'm like, "really, dude?" I am having a hard enough time convincing Mike already to do business with me.
Playing with fire.
Playing a dangerous game.
And that's rules of the road out here.
Morris: Shotwell's going to be in jail soon, and hopefully Boutin won't be.
[Indistinct conversations.]
Man: So, we got the spot picked out and we're set.
First guys in is who? Thomson: Me, Jason.
Narrator: Matt Thomson of the Jackson county sheriff's department - We'll go in next.
- Second.
Okay.
And sergeant Mike Gilley of Siskiyou county Okay.
Anybody got any questions? Are about to be air-lifted [Helicopter blades whirring.]
Toward a massive grow site set up by a Mexican drug cartel.
[Radio chatter.]
All right.
Time to go.
--- --- --- --- --- --- Thomson: The biggest thing on everybody's mind is if we get spotted or if they hear us, it's a firefight with them.
Narrator: They hang beneath the helicopter and are, for the moment, vulnerable to sniper attacks.
--- --- The closer they get to the site, the more exposed they are.
--- Did I [Bleep.]
tell you to come here?! - No, you didn't.
- Then, how am I [Bleep.]
wasting your time?! I'll pop you right in the mouth, old man.
You're gonna be missing teeth.
--- --- --- Narrator: As the helicopters return to base, the officers advance to the edge of a massive cartel grow site.
--- --- miles away from help, they are vulnerable to attack from every direction.
--- Tawni Boutin has returned to Grace farms.
Tawni: And I'm really pissed.
What goes on inside is rage.
1/3 of everything I've been doing this summer Gone.
My immediate thought is my neighbor is the one that ripped up my plants.
Narrator: Now that the damaged plants have been stabilized, Boutin turns his attention to finding out who was responsible.
Mike B.
: That dvr right there could produce evidence that requires somebody to be responsible.
Narrator: The night-vision security cameras do, indeed, reveal what happened last evening.
--- The camera's cable to the house was cut.
Mike B.
: I'd been camping out next to the crop in a trailer for already a couple of weeks.
Last night was the only night and the first night that I hadn't.
I don't know how the neighbor could've known that would be the only night I wouldn't be out, but the fellas who were here did.
So I don't really know who did it.
It could be either one of them.
It just didn't feel right anymore and my suspicions changed.
Here's the question it boils down to today Do you think those two guys in that [Bleep.]
teepee had something to do with it? My biggest priority is the safety of my guys.
If we are seen going in, that may force our hand to be very proactive and on the offense.
Anything could happen.
--- --- --- Narrator: Concealed in the dense foliage, tens of thousands of plants cover not only this slope, but the adjacent slope, as well.
Man: Oh, look at that.
--- --- --- --- --- Narrator: Gilley and Thomson divide their teams.
Thomson: It's always unnerving.
We don't know where they may be at.
They could be sitting up on a hill looking at us through a rifle scope.
We just don't know.
Mike B.
: I'm not really too sure that he won't want to kick my ass, like, in the next five minutes.
Shotwell: So, Skweaz and I are down in the garden, and then I see Mike and Tawni , and I just I don't know.
I smell a rat in the woodpile.
Something's up.
Mike B.
: What's up, guys? Yo.
Mike B.
: I didn't mean to leave you guys down here, but I just had to have a conversation with the wife, 'cause she's as much a part of this farm as me.
And I can just tell from their body language that it's probably not something I want to hear.
It's like we're all in the game, but I don't know if we're in the same game, you know? Do we have to be? Well, no, we don't have to be, but, dude I live 300 miles away from you.
How could it be the same game? I don't know, and we're gonna have a difficult time even being on the same property if I can't get a couple paragraphs strung together.
Mike B.
: Now I'm really, really, starting to get irritated.
I've been forgiving and forgetting, and I've been writing free passes and I've been all Mr.
Nice.
And you know what, though? That [Bleep.]
coming to a screeching halt right now.
There's only room for one number one on this piece of property, right? And that's you here, but I'd like you to respect my time.
I don't have all day to stay up here in pot land, bro.
Did I [Bleep.]
tell you to come here?! Did I tell you a [Bleep.]
time to be here?! - No, you didn't.
- Then, how am I [Bleep.]
wasting your time?! That's the last thing I need, is this hothead looking at me with this, like, evil eye Like, "you jackass.
I know you did this.
" And you just say it, I'm gonna pop you right in the mouth, old man.
Don't even [Bleep.]
accuse me of pulling your plants.
The only [Bleep.]
night that I sleep in and I don't come down here You guys are in the teepee and the next morning, I wake up to all my [Bleep.]
pulled up.
No.
Bull [Bleep.]
calling bull [Bleep.]
What did he say before Nate made his little - This isn't about Nate.
- It's not about Nate.
It's not about Nate.
I'm fine with it.
I expect him to do that as a friend for you.
It's about that I'm not comfortable with it, okay? It ain't got nothing to do with Nate! Well, I come up here with money, and you snub me? You want to keep gettin' smartass and being an [Bleep.]
to my husband, you can just leave because I've about had it! Mike B.
: Matt Shotwell's visa has been revoked here in my cannabis nation because I don't get the feeling that he'd be a good citizen.
That is one big man right there.
Mike B.
: That's just a loose end out there now for me.
I wouldn't put it past Matt to figure out a way to come up here and take what he wants.
I have nothing left.
Nothing.
Tell me "I can't" one more time.
It fuels my fire.
Don't give me any weed, Mike Boutin.
Please don't give me any weed.
You're not the only game in town.
We'll see what's up next time around.
I'll be back.
Thomson: Any cartel grow is dangerous 'cause they have millions of dollars' worth of their product they want to protect.
They'll sit there and fight.
They'll shoot it out with us.
--- --- --- Narrator: While surrounded by armed cartel growers concealed in the forest nearby, two separate S.
W.
A.
T.
teams enter a gigantic illegal grow.
--- --- About 100 yards.
--- Thomson: Any cartel grow is dangerous 'cause, obviously, I mean, we're walkin' in on their territory where they have millions of dollars' worth of their product that they want to protect.
Sometimes they'll sit there and fight.
They'll shoot it out with us.
--- --- --- Narrator: Gilley and his men continue to search the area for growers.
Could you advise them we just got through the other pod, where the hooch is nobody here.
Mike B.
: Yeah, this single jolly here, I don't think is ready.
- Tawni: I don't think so.
- Nelson: No.
I think some of these are getting close.
Close, but I don't think they're ready, either.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mike B.
: The cannabis right now, it's not really ready, but I've had some threats made against my farm.
You know, with the helicopter incident, we're absolutely being surveilled, and so rather than just wait until, like, the last few weeks when it's real critical, I'll get out there today and harvest it.
Let's do this thing.
Tawni: All righty.
We got cutters, scissors, bins.
Narrator: Rather than risk losing all his plants, Boutin makes the decision to harvest as many as he can now before anything else happens.
Mike B.
: It's just this is the craziest summer ever.
I wake up and wondered almost every morning, "is today the day I'm going to jail?" And it could still come.
We just don't know.
Looks like both those pods we knew about are cleared.
Man: And it is chock-full of very good plants.
Narrator: Gilley's decision to bring in the second S.
W.
A.
T.
team has paid off.
The cartel saw they were outmanned and chose to flee.
A violent confrontation was avoided.
Gilley: I wish we had caught the suspects.
You know, we were afraid that they might spook out of here.
Lopey: These drug cartels will look at what works and what doesn't work.
And what they often do is, they learn what we're doing and then they'll try to counter that.
--- --- And now we have the very difficult work of either pulling up the plants or cutting them and collecting them.
--- Thomson: Make sure you keep your own count! I think it's been a good season for us.
It's still a win if we just get plants.
--- Narrator: In this single operation, officers from Jackson and Siskiyou county will successfully eradicate more than 30,000 marijuana plants.
Combined, the plants have a street value of $50 million.
[Helicopter blades whirring.]
--- Man: That's 3,000.
So, I've made Catherine another batch of Ben's meds.
It's a concentrated vial of almost pure CBD's.
Narrator: Nate Morris is en route to Catherine Jacobson's house to see if the CBD tincture he created for her son, Ben, was successful at limiting his seizures.
Morris: I saw a video the other day of a child having a seizure, and I learned that that child has since died.
There's a lot surrounding that little vial of CBD's because if it works for Ben, it could work for other children.
- Hi! Hey.
- How are you doing? Good.
How are you? Narrator: For Nate Morris, his growing season has been a whirlwind of emotions.
My major hurdle right now is the drug.
That I could definitely help with.
What do you mean, "they took everything"? After having his garden cut down It's just gone.
Just gone.
I need to produce medicine right now.
I'm on a mission.
Let's do it.
Nate turned to an old friend and icon Arguably, I just committed a felony.
Narrator: To help relieve a child's pain.
So, tell me how's it working? He's been seizure-free for about 10 days, except for two very mild seizures.
Wow.
- It's been amazing.
Yeah.
It's incredible.
- That's incredible.
That's great news.
- Thank you so much.
- My pleasure.
Morris: You can't argue with results, and the bottom line is, CBD's are working for Ben.
Ben, you want to feel my hair? You can feel my hair.
When I hear that, I just want to help as many kids as I can.
Can I give you a hug? You can run on for a long time Smith: I'm an outlaw because I live outside the law.
I'm not a criminal.
I'll fight until my last breath.
I want to die a free man.
They're gonna cut you down sooner or later, gonna cut you down Gilley: It's disheartening when you spend your whole life doing this, and now you see how it's evolving.
But you know what? I'm not gonna walk away from it.
I am gonna do my job, and that's the bottom line.
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down Whether it's medical or illegal, the law's the law, and we're here to make sure that that law's followed.
We will press on and get the bad guys.
When he said, "son, you gotta go for the kill" kill, kill, kill, kill Mike B.
: This growing season was the worst ever.
It was a nightmare.
The gambler tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down We're a great country, and I love this country, but what kind of a country would jail a person, put him in a cage for using a plant that could heal their illness? That's just barbaric to me.
Shotwell: So, all right.
Let's do this.
I lose, then I lose it all and I go back to jail.
If I win, I'll build it again.
And anybody who tells me that I can't, you better watch out.
But as sure as God made black and white what's down in the dark will be brought to the light I'm in this cannabis game till the end.
I'm gonna be in this fight until they drag me out in handcuffs.
Winters: We have consistently seen, I think, a decay of the moral fabric, to where people want to just legalize drugs.
Mike B.
: We need to wake up, look at the facts, and say, "no more of this.
This is insane.
" It's a flawed and ridiculous premise to think that if you legalize this marijuana, you're gonna have less of a problem.
You're going to accelerate the problems that you already have with marijuana.
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down Synch & corrections by vegemite.
E.
Smith's farm, taking photographs for evidence.
Smith: [Bleep.]
You.
Morris: Oh, God.
Those are cops.
Narrator: Nate Morris dodged cops on his way to his secret lab, where he produced a concentrate for Catherine Jacobson's son, Ben, to help treat his epilepsy.
It's really stressful because it's super illegal.
Mike B.
: Tawni! Narrator: Grower Mike Boutin's feud with his neighbor --- Escalated towards violence, causing local law enforcement to show up with a message.
Marijuana is illegal.
I don't support this, and you know that.
And former dispensary owner Matt Shotwell stared down a possible eight-year prison sentence to return to the Emerald Triangle in a desperate attempt to get back into the weed business.
I'm gonna prove everybody wrong, including my girlfriend, including my lawyer, and everybody else that said, "quit the game, walk away.
" Well, guess what.
I'm not.
Narrator: Deep in the heart of the northern California mountains, marijuana growing season is under way.
Shotwell: You're growing in your front yard.
Well, yeah.
This is the Emerald Triangle Ground zero for a multi-billion-dollar marijuana industry.
Originally comprised of three counties covering 10,000 square miles, it's now growing out of control.
I mean, look at the size of that.
It's a decades-old battle between cops It is a problem of epidemic proportions.
- Narrator: Dealers - It's the business that can't fail.
Narrator: And growers Mike B.
: There's nothing more American than a man producing a product that people want.
Narrator: They stand to make millions Or be locked up for years.
Arguably, I just committed a felony.
[Dog barks.]
We got somebody running.
Shotwell: This is Weed Country.
Yeah, I'm breaking the law on TV.
So what? [Siren wails.]
I'm looking forward to seeing some of Mike Boutin's bud, dude.
He should have some good-ass bud for us.
--- Yeah, hopefully there won't be no problems.
Matt Shotwell and his muscle, Skweaz, are headed back up to Grace farms, hoping Mike Boutin's weed will put them back in business.
Shotwell: What I have to do is rebuild this empire, starting all over.
Narrator: Shotwell was at the top of his game, selling marijuana out of his Greenwell dispensary.
I think I've demonstrated what I can do with so little from the beginning of Greenwell to making it the biggest dispensary in northern California.
I'm here in your face, because I want you to see me rebuild it again.
All you cops can watch me do it again.
Narrator: Last year, he was raided and thrown in jail.
[Sighs.]
Oh, it's good to be out.
He was released on bail and greeted by his girlfriend, Soraya.
Moore: I'm just really happy right now.
I've had a huge relief taken off of my chest from the last 14 days.
It's been a very, very long couple weeks.
Man: How's it feel to be out, man? Dude, it feels great.
It feels great.
You know, I was wrongfully incarcerated in the beginning.
Truth's gonna come out in the end.
And God looks out for his people.
And, you know, we're doing the right thing.
Shotwell: Things are going crazy here in California right now.
Everybody's scared.
So I got a game plan.
Getting it farm-direct and taking it to people who don't want to make that drive, people who don't want to take that risk.
Narrator: This isn't the first time a largely illegal substance has been smuggled up and down the pacific coast.
During the prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s and '30s, rumrunners would smuggle booze from Canada down the coastline to customers who felt that the law was unjust.
Shotwell: This country was founded on outlaws doing things they weren't supposed to do Breaking the mold.
And that's what I'm gonna do.
I'm gonna do that till your pig ass comes and puts me in jail again.
Narrator: Something that his girlfriend, Soraya, worries will happen sooner rather than later.
I hope that he has a plan for himself outside of this industry, because I do believe that Matt's crazy.
And I worry, you know.
Yeah, baby.
It's go time.
Narrator: Shotwell's already facing an eight-year prison sentence and could be headed for more.
Yeah, I'm breaking the law on TV.
So what? Hey, is Burl or Craig around there? Narrator: For cops like Mike Gilley, time is running out.
Hey, Craig, I may want to go back down there and take another look today.
Is that possible? Craig: No problem.
The helicopter's all yours.
Okay.
Thanks, Craig.
Narrator: All across the Emerald Triangle, it's harvest time.
Growers are moving product, and Gilley has a short window to find, investigate, and take down illegal growers.
He suspects a pushing beyond the limits of the law.
--- If they start harvesting and taking the product out, then the dope is gone.
And that is a terrible feeling.
--- Marijuana eradication is what I'm living for.
--- Narrator: All summer long Gilley: We got somebody running.
Narrator: Gilley and his men have taken down illegal grows all throughout the Emerald Triangle Let's go.
Let's go.
Let's go.
But have yet to make an arrest.
Gilley: They just watered.
They were just here.
The harvest is upon him, and as the laws prohibiting marijuana continue to become more lenient, this may be Gilley's last summer to put a dent in an industry he sees spinning out of control.
Gilley: I feel like I'm kind of facing an uphill battle.
People say, "we can tax this, and it's okay, 'cause it's bringing in money.
" Does that make it right? It's more harmful than alcohol.
Should we put another dangerous substance out there? It's like we're slipping deeper into a vortex.
Make one more circle.
Narrator: At Grace farms, Mike and Tawni Boutin are still waiting for their plants to be ready to harvest Mike B.
: A few days too early or too late on any particular strain is going to not give you what you're looking for.
Narrator: Leaving them exposed at the most dangerous time of the year.
Mike B.
: Harvest time is the culmination of all of your work, all of your worry.
It's pressure.
It's stress.
It's frustration.
It's You name it.
It's all rolled together.
It's a big knot in your stomach.
I don't think I'm gonna waste a whole bunch of time with stakes.
Narrator: The Boutins have been going through one of the toughest growing seasons of their 35-year-long career.
Their concealed-weapons permit was revoked, leaving the farm vulnerable to violent attacks.
Their bank account mysteriously closed down.
Closed by who? Oh, by the bank? And an ongoing land dispute with their neighbors You lost again?! --- Brought cops to the farm Marijuana is illegal.
And threatens to tear the couple apart.
Maybe you should stay the [Bleep.]
in this house when they get here.
Tawni: Already told me on the phone, Mike, that we are illegally growing weed on their property, - That's not true.
- and he is gonna take care of it.
He's gonna take care of it! Narrator: Boutin is determined to press on despite the risks.
Mike B.
: Along with the cops, along with the rips, along with weather, you know, then we just have these other problems that, you know, could derail you.
We have a dispute with the neighbor.
So harvest time can be scary because it's like You're almost there.
What's gonna happen? You guys ever heard of scissor sharpeners down here at all? I've been waiting for Santa Claus to bring me new scissors.
- Santa Claus loves weed growers.
- Shh! What? [Helicopter blades whirring.]
Sounds close.
Yeah.
[Whirring continues.]
Sounds low.
Mike B.
: Yeah.
Aw, come on.
[Bleep.]
All right.
Don't do anything dumb.
Don't anybody do anything stupid.
That looks like a pretty good place.
Man: If that's where you want, that's where we'll go.
Mike B.
: They were taking pictures.
It could be a little shot across the bow.
--- Gilley: When we find a target, it's an adrenaline booster and it's a good feeling.
Tawni: That was freaky.
Mike B.
: We got buzzed.
Lopey: Hey, Mike, how you doing? - Good.
How are you? - What's happening? Give me an idea of what we've got going here.
Narrator: Sheriff Jon Lopey has been called over by sergeant Mike Gilley to examine recently captured aerial surveillance photos.
- Boy, that's a lot of plants.
- Gilley: Yeah.
Those plants you know, we're probably looking at six, seven feet around, those plants.
Wow.
- Several pounds a plant, it looks like, huh? - Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
This is a high-dollar crop.
Narrator: It's the biggest grow of the season and can only be the work of a major drug-trafficking organization A drug cartel.
Lopey: The drug cartels are terrorists.
It's narco-terrorism that is being imported from Mexico.
They're gonna use any means to accomplish their goals.
And they will kill.
They will maim.
And they will destroy the environment to cultivate their crops.
It's like these guys are going for broke.
Narrator: Lopey must dispatch his men immediately to take down the violent growers before they harvest their plants.
You have to prioritize and try to hit the bigger sites or perhaps the sites that you think may be harvesting.
If they have any long guns, they're gonna have the marked advantage.
That's for sure.
Gilley: It's a high-risk venture.
Narrator: Lopey worries his men are outgunned.
You know, we're fighting a narco-terrorism war against some people who are very well prepared, because you're talking about millions, if not billions, of dollars being generated.
Gilley: And looking at this, I would need, you know, several platoons to get all the way around this thing.
It's gonna be nasty.
[Bleep.]
They pulled it out of the dirt.
They broke the main roots.
There's really only one [Bleep.]
person that would do this to me.
This right here is so not gonna survive.
Mike B.
: Well, no, I think it's pretty straightforward.
Basically, what I got Everything already out, that they talk about for this.
Narrator: Mike Boutin is setting up a new surveillance system.
During harvest time, the plants are worth more than ever, and he believes it's only a matter of time before thieves come to rip him off.
Just gonna power it up, first off.
And with no guns, he's more vulnerable than he's ever been.
I'm almost ready to, like, be down there sleeping in my crop already.
[Drill whirs.]
So having the camera makes me feel a whole lot better.
[Clicking.]
I think we need to just start tilting down.
It's quite a deterrent for people to know I have a camera system and I can produce dvr evidence against somebody.
See? See? It's the movement.
Lassik right away I saw him.
- I like this a lot.
- Yeah, me too.
That's great.
[Dog barking.]
Grace farms.
Here we go.
This looks familiar.
Shotwell: Me and Skweaz roll up to Boutin's.
I'm a little concerned about how Mike is gonna take Skweaz and the fact that I came up with somebody else unannounced.
What's up, dude? What's up, man? That's my buddy, Skweaz.
You know, buddy system.
- He's my muscle.
- Yeah, yeah, that's Hope you don't mind I brought some muscle up with me.
Mike B.
: Look like you got some muscle.
You don't need muscle here, though.
Well, I got another visit from Matt Shotwell, but this time, he brings company.
That's just not a good way to get me all favorable and, you know, approachable.
It sort of set my teeth on edge a little bit.
Narrator: With Shotwell out on bail and facing charges, his presence is only adding to Boutin's stress.
You got some good trees.
What's that black thing to the right? Mike B.
: It's a new setup.
[Sniffs.]
Man, it's making my nose water, it's so pollinated.
My allergies are going crazy.
[Sniffs.]
[Bleep.]
Perfect.
I'll give you $500 a pound for it.
You move pretty fast.
This is the country.
Right on.
Right on.
That's all good.
You're a city dude, man, and I get that.
But you know what? You got to get where you're at.
Shotwell: You know, Mike is kind of like, "glad to see you, but why are you here?" I'm like, "well, why the hell do you think I'm here, "captain obvious? I'm here to get some cannabis.
" Mike B.
: I don't like to move too fast.
I like to have conversations, especially with people that I'm just sort of getting to know.
Shotwell: I marked it on my calendar, man.
[Bleep.]
I thought you Yeah, well, dude, sorry, man.
I didn't expect that.
Really, I mean I wanted to call, but I didn't want to ask you If we had some sort of understanding, you know, that got by me.
I don't have a problem figuring out a way to work together, but we have a long way to go.
Okay.
Dude, I didn't know you were coming up here.
Right.
Well, let me ask you this, then.
I don't even remember talking about a date last time.
I certainly know we didn't talk about, like, "dude, next time I see you, you know, we're gonna make something happen with weed.
" If we're gonna do something and do it right, we got to start planning it now anyway.
Shotwell: I'll call you.
I didn't want to call.
You should've called me maybe, if it was that important.
I'm not in this to get [Bleep.]
jacked around and [Bleep.]
with.
And I'm not gonna be a sharecropper for anybody.
Dude, I'm not gonna be your [Bleep.]
boy, none of that.
This is country here, and you move real [Bleep.]
fast to suit me.
Well, be straight up with me.
You tell me.
Am I wasting my time up here? I mean We haven't even talked about a lot of things, and you're all, like, hot to trot to get weed from me, and I don't even know what [Bleep.]
talking about for price.
I don't know the legality of how we make a transfer when you're a dispensary owner and I'm a collective farm.
Shotwell: My expectations Get in, get cannabis, get out, get paid.
That's it.
So I just want to talk more.
That's what I'm trying to say.
All right.
You know what? You guys you got bedding? 'Cause I got a teepee that after the dew point comes up a little bit or, you know, comes Get a little moisture in the air in the evenings.
We'll build a fire in there, get the stones all warm.
Uh-huh.
You know what I'm saying? Hang out for a couple days.
Let's talk.
How the [Bleep.]
do we go back to Vallejo with no weed? --- This is a large number of plants.
Narrator: Sergeant Mike Gilley is staring down the barrel of an impending showdown with a drug cartel.
Gilley: We've got to take a whole different look at this, because now we're dealing with a situation that is a S.
W.
A.
T.
Operation in our national forest, and our manpower has been cut back, so you got to collaborate with other counties and other teams.
[Ringing.]
It's Matt.
Gilley: Hey, Matt.
Mike Gilley.
What's going on, Mike? Narrator: Gilley calls Matt Thomson, tactical leader for the Jackson county S.
W.
A.
T.
Team.
We had a kind of a development in this big garden.
Tactically, it's gonna be kind of a nightmare by the way it's located.
Well, it's huge, this one is.
It's one of those, you know, where getting a containment all the way around is almost impossible.
I may end up having to put S.
W.
A.
T.
guys on the top and spook it.
The cartel will do one of two things Flee the grow site or stand their ground and fight.
Gilley and Thomson must be prepared for either.
It's one of those, you know, you kind of roll the dice and hope for the best.
That's why I don't sleep much this time of year.
[Chuckles.]
You and me both.
Looks like they're gonna, they're harvesting.
So I'd like some of your S.
W.
A.
T.
guys on some of these if possible.
Yeah.
You know, whatever you need.
From the border of Mexico, drug cartels are moving northward to the Emerald Triangle to take advantage of the remote location's perfect environment for growing high-quality weed.
They bring with them violent tactics used to intimidate and overpower anyone looking to get in their way, including torture, kidnappings, and beheadings.
Analysts estimate that the cartel's wholesale earnings from illicit drug sales range from $14 billion to $50 billion annually.
[Helicopter blades whirring.]
And the brutal cartels are now in Gilley's backyard.
Okay, man.
Thanks for the help.
-Thomson: All right.
Bye.
- Okay.
[Telephone beeps.]
The timing with these marijuana grows gets really crucial as we get later in the season.
Narrator: He worries they may be too late.
I never know if the plants are there or not, because, you know, once we've spotted them from the air, we do all of our tactical stuff, get prepared for a big show, and it's gone.
I mean, all the plants have been harvested, and we've just given them their crop for that year.
So now they're turning that into millions of dollars in profits for them, plus all the drugs that get out on the street.
So, I mean, that is one of the worst feelings ever.
Skweaz: In the [Bleep.]
teepee.
Shotwell: [Bleep.]
Teepee.
Lot of people said, you know, that I was out of my element.
This is the first time I actually feel that way.
There's hardly any lights out here.
I will never leave this place at dark ever.
If we go home, like, how the [Bleep.]
do we go back to Vallejo with no weed? We'd look the biggest [Bleep.]
idiots - Ever ever! - Ever.
Like, "you guys went up there with money and came back with nothing?" [Scoffs.]
Yeah.
Shotwell: What I have to do is rebuild this empire.
I don't have the resources to do it, and I've come up here to try to make new friends with some new people, and even they're doubting me in who I am and questioning whether they should help me or not.
Man, this is for our patients, bro.
We got to do what we came and set forth to do.
Well, I at least got to get the expenses paid for.
It's not like this is a vacation.
I'm thinking like this, bro.
We don't have to be hard-asses, but --- --- [Engine turns over.]
Narrator: As morning breaks, Tawni Boutin heads to town to pick up her supplies for the farm, while her guests Holy [Bleep.]
Slowly come to life.
Sun rises inside the teepee.
We go inside Mike's house for breakfast.
Hey, hey.
He's making coffee and eggs.
Coffee? No, sir.
It'd run through me.
I'm a little concerned about how Mike wants to take his time up here in the country.
In my world, money talks, and b.
s.
walks.
Well, I got money.
You've got weed.
That's what's going on.
Well, apparently, it doesn't work up here in Grace farms.
- And they were like, "you're cooking.
" - I'm like, "I don't know how to cook [Bleep.]
" - Mike! - What? --- What? What? --- [Bleep.]
Mike B.
: What? --- What? What? --- [Bleep.]
Narrator: Sometime during the night, Mike Boutin's plants were pulled out of the ground.
Mike B.
: I see devastation.
They cut off the plants' lifeline.
They pulled it out of the dirt.
They broke the main roots.
It's sort of like a person sitting there bleeding out.
They didn't even pull them out.
They're just Mike B.
: Well, they [Bleep.]
pulled them out, dude.
Well, I mean, they're not stolen, though.
No, this isn't about [Bleep.]
taking it.
This is about [Bleep.]
[Bleep.]
with me.
See, here's the thing, man.
There's really only one [Bleep.]
person who would do this to me.
The way that crime solvers do it, they ask who has the opportunity, who has the motive, and who has the means.
And I think all of those things point To the neighbor that I'm having the land-use squabble with.
Damn it, Tawni .
I can't [Bleep.]
talk to you when you're gone! [Bleep.]
[Bleep.]
Narrator: Without Tawni, Boutin must perform triage on the dying plants himself.
Taylor, here's what I want you to do.
Take these plants, pick them up Or some of this broken stuff.
Put it up straight up.
Lean it forward that way.
One third of Boutin's crop is now in jeopardy, with a street value of $100,000.
Mike B.
: This right here is so not gonna survive.
As a matter of fact, you know what I got to do? I got to call Nate.
Nate Morris is among a handful of credible cannabis activists in this county and super, super smart.
[Dial tone.]
Morris: What's up, buddy? Yo, man, somebody, like, pulled up every plant in my hoopie last night.
You're [Bleep.]
me.
No, dude.
Aw, dude, I'm sorry.
We came up here to do one thing and one thing only Was to get some [Bleep.]
weed.
Hopefully he'll let me leave with something.
Otherwise, this was a big [Bleep.]
waste of money and time and gas.
Narrator: Moments after learning of Boutin's misfortune, Nate Morris arrives at Grace farms.
Morris: His garden's been cut down.
It sounds really bad.
It's important to me that those plants be healthy, but it sounds like they're dead.
A bunch of them look [Bleep.]
but they're not dead.
It's like these are babies that just got shaken, and they're gonna be stunted.
They're gonna be [Bleep.]
up as a result.
But they're not dead.
They're not a write-off.
They're just, you know, traumatized.
And it's just not gonna put on that awesome weight you'd hope for.
Narrator: Nate can help Boutin salvage the damaged plants, but he's just as concerned with how the plants came to be ripped up in the first place.
Morris: You guys were up in the teepee when this [Bleep.]
went down? - Yeah, apparently.
- Skweaz: Yeah.
Kind of feel low, because I never left the teepee.
So that was before midnight, then? Yeah, I was right here on this Ridge there just up the house.
Skweaz starts in with this, "oh, well, I saw some stuff.
" I just kept seeing this [Bleep.]
flutters of light.
I'm thinking to myself, "okay, why wouldn't you "have, like, marched your ass up to my house and said, 'hey, brother'?" That just stunk to high heaven right off the bat to me.
This is a very atypical robbery.
Nothing about this makes sense.
I figured I'd better tell Shotwell right to his face my concerns.
Just so I've been up-front and honest with you guys, I cautioned him about doing business with you, just 'cause of the legal jeopardy you're in.
The fact that you're looking at such serious charges, like, makes you, you know, kind of a scary dude to work with.
Right now, I'm as free as you are.
I have no stipulations on my bail.
They didn't say I can't buy weed.
They didn't say I couldn't smoke weed.
They didn't say I can't grow weed.
I don't know the terms of your bail, but most bail, like, there's definitely an expectation of you not to commit more crimes.
I'm like, "really, dude?" I am having a hard enough time convincing Mike already to do business with me.
Playing with fire.
Playing a dangerous game.
And that's rules of the road out here.
Morris: Shotwell's going to be in jail soon, and hopefully Boutin won't be.
[Indistinct conversations.]
Man: So, we got the spot picked out and we're set.
First guys in is who? Thomson: Me, Jason.
Narrator: Matt Thomson of the Jackson county sheriff's department - We'll go in next.
- Second.
Okay.
And sergeant Mike Gilley of Siskiyou county Okay.
Anybody got any questions? Are about to be air-lifted [Helicopter blades whirring.]
Toward a massive grow site set up by a Mexican drug cartel.
[Radio chatter.]
All right.
Time to go.
--- --- --- --- --- --- Thomson: The biggest thing on everybody's mind is if we get spotted or if they hear us, it's a firefight with them.
Narrator: They hang beneath the helicopter and are, for the moment, vulnerable to sniper attacks.
--- --- The closer they get to the site, the more exposed they are.
--- Did I [Bleep.]
tell you to come here?! - No, you didn't.
- Then, how am I [Bleep.]
wasting your time?! I'll pop you right in the mouth, old man.
You're gonna be missing teeth.
--- --- --- Narrator: As the helicopters return to base, the officers advance to the edge of a massive cartel grow site.
--- --- miles away from help, they are vulnerable to attack from every direction.
--- Tawni Boutin has returned to Grace farms.
Tawni: And I'm really pissed.
What goes on inside is rage.
1/3 of everything I've been doing this summer Gone.
My immediate thought is my neighbor is the one that ripped up my plants.
Narrator: Now that the damaged plants have been stabilized, Boutin turns his attention to finding out who was responsible.
Mike B.
: That dvr right there could produce evidence that requires somebody to be responsible.
Narrator: The night-vision security cameras do, indeed, reveal what happened last evening.
--- The camera's cable to the house was cut.
Mike B.
: I'd been camping out next to the crop in a trailer for already a couple of weeks.
Last night was the only night and the first night that I hadn't.
I don't know how the neighbor could've known that would be the only night I wouldn't be out, but the fellas who were here did.
So I don't really know who did it.
It could be either one of them.
It just didn't feel right anymore and my suspicions changed.
Here's the question it boils down to today Do you think those two guys in that [Bleep.]
teepee had something to do with it? My biggest priority is the safety of my guys.
If we are seen going in, that may force our hand to be very proactive and on the offense.
Anything could happen.
--- --- --- Narrator: Concealed in the dense foliage, tens of thousands of plants cover not only this slope, but the adjacent slope, as well.
Man: Oh, look at that.
--- --- --- --- --- Narrator: Gilley and Thomson divide their teams.
Thomson: It's always unnerving.
We don't know where they may be at.
They could be sitting up on a hill looking at us through a rifle scope.
We just don't know.
Mike B.
: I'm not really too sure that he won't want to kick my ass, like, in the next five minutes.
Shotwell: So, Skweaz and I are down in the garden, and then I see Mike and Tawni , and I just I don't know.
I smell a rat in the woodpile.
Something's up.
Mike B.
: What's up, guys? Yo.
Mike B.
: I didn't mean to leave you guys down here, but I just had to have a conversation with the wife, 'cause she's as much a part of this farm as me.
And I can just tell from their body language that it's probably not something I want to hear.
It's like we're all in the game, but I don't know if we're in the same game, you know? Do we have to be? Well, no, we don't have to be, but, dude I live 300 miles away from you.
How could it be the same game? I don't know, and we're gonna have a difficult time even being on the same property if I can't get a couple paragraphs strung together.
Mike B.
: Now I'm really, really, starting to get irritated.
I've been forgiving and forgetting, and I've been writing free passes and I've been all Mr.
Nice.
And you know what, though? That [Bleep.]
coming to a screeching halt right now.
There's only room for one number one on this piece of property, right? And that's you here, but I'd like you to respect my time.
I don't have all day to stay up here in pot land, bro.
Did I [Bleep.]
tell you to come here?! Did I tell you a [Bleep.]
time to be here?! - No, you didn't.
- Then, how am I [Bleep.]
wasting your time?! That's the last thing I need, is this hothead looking at me with this, like, evil eye Like, "you jackass.
I know you did this.
" And you just say it, I'm gonna pop you right in the mouth, old man.
Don't even [Bleep.]
accuse me of pulling your plants.
The only [Bleep.]
night that I sleep in and I don't come down here You guys are in the teepee and the next morning, I wake up to all my [Bleep.]
pulled up.
No.
Bull [Bleep.]
calling bull [Bleep.]
What did he say before Nate made his little - This isn't about Nate.
- It's not about Nate.
It's not about Nate.
I'm fine with it.
I expect him to do that as a friend for you.
It's about that I'm not comfortable with it, okay? It ain't got nothing to do with Nate! Well, I come up here with money, and you snub me? You want to keep gettin' smartass and being an [Bleep.]
to my husband, you can just leave because I've about had it! Mike B.
: Matt Shotwell's visa has been revoked here in my cannabis nation because I don't get the feeling that he'd be a good citizen.
That is one big man right there.
Mike B.
: That's just a loose end out there now for me.
I wouldn't put it past Matt to figure out a way to come up here and take what he wants.
I have nothing left.
Nothing.
Tell me "I can't" one more time.
It fuels my fire.
Don't give me any weed, Mike Boutin.
Please don't give me any weed.
You're not the only game in town.
We'll see what's up next time around.
I'll be back.
Thomson: Any cartel grow is dangerous 'cause they have millions of dollars' worth of their product they want to protect.
They'll sit there and fight.
They'll shoot it out with us.
--- --- --- Narrator: While surrounded by armed cartel growers concealed in the forest nearby, two separate S.
W.
A.
T.
teams enter a gigantic illegal grow.
--- --- About 100 yards.
--- Thomson: Any cartel grow is dangerous 'cause, obviously, I mean, we're walkin' in on their territory where they have millions of dollars' worth of their product that they want to protect.
Sometimes they'll sit there and fight.
They'll shoot it out with us.
--- --- --- Narrator: Gilley and his men continue to search the area for growers.
Could you advise them we just got through the other pod, where the hooch is nobody here.
Mike B.
: Yeah, this single jolly here, I don't think is ready.
- Tawni: I don't think so.
- Nelson: No.
I think some of these are getting close.
Close, but I don't think they're ready, either.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mike B.
: The cannabis right now, it's not really ready, but I've had some threats made against my farm.
You know, with the helicopter incident, we're absolutely being surveilled, and so rather than just wait until, like, the last few weeks when it's real critical, I'll get out there today and harvest it.
Let's do this thing.
Tawni: All righty.
We got cutters, scissors, bins.
Narrator: Rather than risk losing all his plants, Boutin makes the decision to harvest as many as he can now before anything else happens.
Mike B.
: It's just this is the craziest summer ever.
I wake up and wondered almost every morning, "is today the day I'm going to jail?" And it could still come.
We just don't know.
Looks like both those pods we knew about are cleared.
Man: And it is chock-full of very good plants.
Narrator: Gilley's decision to bring in the second S.
W.
A.
T.
team has paid off.
The cartel saw they were outmanned and chose to flee.
A violent confrontation was avoided.
Gilley: I wish we had caught the suspects.
You know, we were afraid that they might spook out of here.
Lopey: These drug cartels will look at what works and what doesn't work.
And what they often do is, they learn what we're doing and then they'll try to counter that.
--- --- And now we have the very difficult work of either pulling up the plants or cutting them and collecting them.
--- Thomson: Make sure you keep your own count! I think it's been a good season for us.
It's still a win if we just get plants.
--- Narrator: In this single operation, officers from Jackson and Siskiyou county will successfully eradicate more than 30,000 marijuana plants.
Combined, the plants have a street value of $50 million.
[Helicopter blades whirring.]
--- Man: That's 3,000.
So, I've made Catherine another batch of Ben's meds.
It's a concentrated vial of almost pure CBD's.
Narrator: Nate Morris is en route to Catherine Jacobson's house to see if the CBD tincture he created for her son, Ben, was successful at limiting his seizures.
Morris: I saw a video the other day of a child having a seizure, and I learned that that child has since died.
There's a lot surrounding that little vial of CBD's because if it works for Ben, it could work for other children.
- Hi! Hey.
- How are you doing? Good.
How are you? Narrator: For Nate Morris, his growing season has been a whirlwind of emotions.
My major hurdle right now is the drug.
That I could definitely help with.
What do you mean, "they took everything"? After having his garden cut down It's just gone.
Just gone.
I need to produce medicine right now.
I'm on a mission.
Let's do it.
Nate turned to an old friend and icon Arguably, I just committed a felony.
Narrator: To help relieve a child's pain.
So, tell me how's it working? He's been seizure-free for about 10 days, except for two very mild seizures.
Wow.
- It's been amazing.
Yeah.
It's incredible.
- That's incredible.
That's great news.
- Thank you so much.
- My pleasure.
Morris: You can't argue with results, and the bottom line is, CBD's are working for Ben.
Ben, you want to feel my hair? You can feel my hair.
When I hear that, I just want to help as many kids as I can.
Can I give you a hug? You can run on for a long time Smith: I'm an outlaw because I live outside the law.
I'm not a criminal.
I'll fight until my last breath.
I want to die a free man.
They're gonna cut you down sooner or later, gonna cut you down Gilley: It's disheartening when you spend your whole life doing this, and now you see how it's evolving.
But you know what? I'm not gonna walk away from it.
I am gonna do my job, and that's the bottom line.
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down Whether it's medical or illegal, the law's the law, and we're here to make sure that that law's followed.
We will press on and get the bad guys.
When he said, "son, you gotta go for the kill" kill, kill, kill, kill Mike B.
: This growing season was the worst ever.
It was a nightmare.
The gambler tell 'em that God's gonna cut 'em down We're a great country, and I love this country, but what kind of a country would jail a person, put him in a cage for using a plant that could heal their illness? That's just barbaric to me.
Shotwell: So, all right.
Let's do this.
I lose, then I lose it all and I go back to jail.
If I win, I'll build it again.
And anybody who tells me that I can't, you better watch out.
But as sure as God made black and white what's down in the dark will be brought to the light I'm in this cannabis game till the end.
I'm gonna be in this fight until they drag me out in handcuffs.
Winters: We have consistently seen, I think, a decay of the moral fabric, to where people want to just legalize drugs.
Mike B.
: We need to wake up, look at the facts, and say, "no more of this.
This is insane.
" It's a flawed and ridiculous premise to think that if you legalize this marijuana, you're gonna have less of a problem.
You're going to accelerate the problems that you already have with marijuana.
Tell 'em that God's gonna cut you down Synch & corrections by vegemite.