Author John Nores recently spoke to Ironclad discussing how cartels are using U.S. forests and public lands to fuel their drug operations. In the interview, Nores stated that Americans need to be careful with cartels no matter where they live.
"Understand that if you're not part of the cannabis world, if you're not around an illegal growth site, whether it's a private land or a public land area, that these cartel factions, these transnational criminal organizations are affecting you somehow. They're affecting cities with fentanyl and human trafficking. We don't want to cause paranoia but kids have to be very careful, abductions are happening for the trade, and just look internally, not so much externally." - John Nores
According to Amazon, Nores is the author of both “War in the Woods: Combating the Marijuana Cartels on America's Public Lands” in 2010 and “Hidden War: How Special Operations Game Wardens Are Reclaiming America's Wildlands From The Drug Cartels” in 2019. He grew up in rural Santa Clara County in California. He graduated from San Jose State University with both a master’s and bachelor’s degree in criminal justice administration. He was hired as a warden for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in 1992, and retired from that job in 2018.
In the interview with Ironclad, Nores went into detail about how even though marijuana has been legalized in some states, there is still a black market for illegal marijuana that is causing a lot of damage to people and the environment, and a lot of profits for drug cartels. He also warned that cartels aren’t just operating on public lands anymore, but they’re starting to operate on private lands as well.
According to the Ohio Capital Journal, Nores co-founded the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Marijuana Enforcement Team, destroying millions of toxically tainted cannabis plants and making hundreds of felony arrests.
According to NPR, drug cartels often take advantage of the thick canopy of forests to hide their drug operations. Not only are they making illicit drugs, cartels are also poisoning the environment of these lush forests by the toxic runoff of their drug operations.
