Opium poppies rare in North Coast marijuana gardens

If the poppies found growing at a forested Fort Bragg slaying scene prove to be the opium variety, it will be a rare find on the North Coast and California.

“It's pretty much an anomaly,” said Michelle Gregory, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Justice.

So far this year, the state Campaign Against Marijuana Production has found and eradicated more than 1.7 million marijuana plants. They've reported zero opium poppies, she said.

About 100 poppies suspected of being opium producers were found Saturday in a rugged, forested area near the Skunk Train line east of Fort Bragg. Fort Bragg City Councilman Jere Melo, a forest manager, was shot at least twice by a man suspected of growing the poppies, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office said. Melo and a companion stumbled onto the poppy garden while searching for a marijuana garden. The companion escaped the gunfire.

The suspect, Aaron Bassler, 35, a native of Fort Bragg with a history of mental illness, remains at large.

The poppies have been sent to a lab for testing.

If they are the opium variety, Papaver somniferum, it will be just the second time a garden of any size has been found in Mendocino County in almost three decades, officials said.

“I've seen two in my history,” said Sheriff's Capt. Kurt Smallcomb, who's been on the force 28 years.

A few opium poppies occasionally crop up here or there, sometimes around marijuana gardens, he said.

Smallcomb said he is unaware of a rise in opium poppy production in the county.

“If it's a trend, it's something new,” he said.