Doing the work Americans shouldn't do

Crabtree Nature Preserve is located northwest of Chicago in Barrington. It is the staple of Cub Scout and Brownie Troops as they view the exhibits and walk the trails.

We learned today that it was also the home to 30,000 marijuana plants! A college intern stumbled across a couple of men who claimed to be city workers cultivating the crop of weed. He called the cops and they set up a surveillance of the area. After observing the situation for a few weeks, they moved in and arrested two Hispanic gentlemen.

Gentleman #1, Jose Verra, is an illegal alien. Gentleman #2, Bernardo Rangel, is a Mexican citizen with a green card. The police and the media are surprisingly candid about their immigration status. I guess it is due to the nature of the crime, because they seldom disclose it when it comes to most area crimes, even violent ones.

These two farmers were very well equipped. They were pumping water out of the ponds in the area onto their crops, using electric pumps and generators. They had cots for sleeping, a shower, a camp stove, and food. They even had a rat hole bunker that would make Saddam Hussein proud.

In all there were 11 fields with 30,000 plants worth a total of $10 million. And it was all less than a ½ mile from the nature center exhibit building and a block from Route 59, a major road that passes along the forest preserve.

Well, Bernardo is out on bond ($40,000) but Jose is still locked up due to his immigration problem.

Just so you don’t get confused, these aren’t the decent, hard-working people of faith who just came here for a better life. But it would sure be hard to tell them apart walking down the street.

The DEA had a big bongfire on Tuesday.