The Hidden Third Game Warden vs The Cartel
Mar 4, 2026
John Nores, a former California game warden who co-created the Marijuana Enforcement Team and a wilderness special operations sniper unit. He recounts confronting cartel-run illegal grows in national forests. Short, tense stories cover shootouts, toxic pesticides like carbofuran, environmental reclamation work, human trafficking linked to grows, and why legalization did not stop the black market.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
First Discovery Of Cartel Grow In Sierra Foothills
- John Nores stumbled onto a cartel-run outdoor grow when a normally flowing April creek was bone dry and dammed with visqueen plastic.
- He and a fisheries biologist found tactical-posed growers with an AK and machete guarding roughly 500 plants hidden in the creek bed, signaling organized narco operations in California forests.
Carbofuran Creates Long Lasting Environmental And Health Harm
- Cartels used highly toxic pesticides like carbofuran, banned by EPA, to protect crops; these chemicals leave invisible residues that harm wildlife, dogs, officers, and consumers.
- Carbofuran appears as a white mist on plants, dries in 24–48 hours, and has caused sudden canine leukemia and neurologic illness in exposed officers.
Eradication Without Reclamation Leaves Recovery For Cartels
- Early eradication missions removed plants but left water lines, trash, and toxic waste; agencies doing drug raids were not funded to remediate environmental damage.
- Nores argued reclamation (water lines, carbofuran removal, bank stabilization) deters cartels because rebuilding sites costs tens of thousands of dollars.