Plant Heist

20 Mar 2021 | 18 min

California’s fight to protect valuable native succulents from an international poaching ring. When suspicious packages are found in a small town in northern California, Game Warden Pat Freeling, gets a tip about the peculiar activity. After further investigation he exposes a vast network of illegal plant poachers. These smugglers ravage the landscape as they rip thousands of the native succulent, Dudleya Farinosa, from their natural habitat. This small unassuming plant carries a hefty bounty on its head internationally, where a single succulent boasts a price tag in the thousands. With the help of volunteers, native plant biologists, and local government, they fight to stop this ecological destruction.