134 tons of pot set ablaze by Mexican government, Cheetos sales spike downwind

Burning giant piles of drugs isn’t exactly new in the history of media relations, but we can’t think of anything else quite on this scale: the Mexican government invited national and international press from the capital to Tijuana where, after a gun battle with drug traffickers, the Mexican army seized 134 tons of marijuana. The press was invited to watch as the army got really high set the ganja ablaze.

According to the LA Times:

The bundles had different labels, presumably markings for the different distributors who were supposed to have received them in the U.S. Some had ponies and Dalmatians; others a smiling Homer Simpson, saying, in a roughly translated caption: “I’m getting smuggled. What of it, man.”

After Gen. Alfonso Duarte Mugica, Baja California’s top military commander, pressed a button from the table of honor, igniting a charge under the sagging platform, flames engulfed the more than 15,000 bundles. Police, soldiers and dozens of reporters moved forward to gawk and take pictures.

Government officials believe the marijuana probably belonged to Mexico’s most powerful organized crime group, the Sinaloa drug cartel. The seizure, they said, deprived the group of nearly $200 million.

There have been drug busts worth much more money before, but usually with drugs that fetch a higher dollar-to-weight ratio. We’re not experts, but this is certainly the largest pot-burning ceremony we’ve ever seen. It convinced us that Toronto needs more triumphant pot-burning news events like this. Usually, by the time Toronto cops get to a burning crop it’s because a grow-op’s shoddy wiring is having its revenge on the tenants.

• Mexican army destroys 134 tons of marijuana [Los Angeles Times]
• 134 Tons of Marijuana, Up in Smoke [New York Times]