MEDFORD, Ore. — A day after Alejandra, which is not her real name, arrived for a job harvesting marijuana at a farm near Medford, Oregon, she says things took a harrowing turn when armed guards prevented workers from leaving.
“Holding a gun, one of them said, ‘No one goes out. No one goes out until you’re done trimming the pot. No one goes out and no one comes in,’” the undocumented mother of three told ABC News.Pot was legalized for recreational use in Oregon in 2015. The goal was to generate tax revenue for the state while curbing the black market.
Over the past year, ABC News has been tracking the underbelly of marijuana legalization in southern Oregon, where federal, state and local law enforcement are working together to combat the growing problem of “narco slavery.” The three-part investigation,"THC: The Human Cost," is airing this week on"ABC News Live."
A total of three neighboring properties were also raided. At one site, law enforcement says they counted a little over a hundred illegal greenhouses, more than 8,500 black market marijuana plants and 7,000 pounds of processed illegal cannabis. Both Alejandra and Maria asked for their real names not to be used, because they fear retaliation from the cartels.
In the summer heat, she and others were forced to work from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., Maria said. The guards would determine when they would wake up, eat and sleep.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
'Narco slaves': Migrant workers face abuse on Oregon's cartel-run, illegal pot farmsPot was legalized for recreational use in Oregon in 2015. But years later, foreign drug cartels have taken advantage of the limited oversight by running illegal farms on the backs of exploited migrant workers, officials told ABC News.
Read more »
Oregon judge halts voter-approved high-capacity magazine banAn Oregon judge handed guns rights advocates a victory Thursday and placed a new, voter-approved ban on high-capacity magazines on hold until questions about its constitutionality can be decided.
Read more »
Oregon city drops fight to keep Google water use privateResidents of The Dalles, Oregon, will soon know how much water Google’s data centers there have been using to cool the computers
Read more »
Oregon Judge Halts Voter-Approved Ban On High-Capacity Rifle MagazinesJudge raises constitutional concerns about measure aimed at curtailing skyrocketing mass shootings.
Read more »
Oregon government health survey asked sixth graders if they were nonbinary or transThe Oregon Health Authority's annual student health survey asked students as young as sixth grade about their sexual orientation and gender identity.
Read more »
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown explains why she commuted all of her state's death sentencesWith just weeks left in office, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown commuted the sentences of all 17 people on death row in the state, calling it 'an irreversible punishment that does not allow for correction.'
Read more »