John Nores - October 14, 2025
Hidden War: Protecting America’s public and wildlife, waterway and wildland resources from the drug cartels
Tuesday, October 14, 2025 | 7:00 pm Pacific Time
John Nores
An eye opening presentation for all Americans, Lt. John Nores Jr (ret.), team leader for California Dept of Fish and Wildlife’s spec ops Marijuana Enforcement Team (MET) and Delta sniper unit, will give an update and overview of nationwide cartel/Transnational Criminal Organization (TCOs) trends throughout America originating in California’s Silicon Valley foothills while highlighting the public safety threats and destruction of our nation’s wildlife, wildlands and waterways caused by embedded cartel cells operating throughout every US state.
Emphasizing current trend examples from his recent US Congressional testimony, Nores highlights the use of highly toxic EPA banned Carbofuran (nerve agent) based poisons now being imported and used throughout America on black market marijuana grows by the Mexican cartels with the Chinese organized crime groups now importing their own deadly poisons for marijuana operations. Nores breaks down the partnership between the Mexican cartels and Chinese crime groups to run widespread black-market trespass and private land cannabis grow operations, nationwide human trafficking operations and trading money laundering services for fentanyl and meth-amphetamine precursor chemicals while covering the health and safety issues associated with these toxics and the other cartel run public safety crimes throughout America.
Through operation experiences, photographs, documentary and investigative news story television footage and narratives from MET operations (including the unit’s six officer involved shooting incidents with armed cartel operatives) and operational lessons learned, Lt. Nores breaks down operational challenges and effectiveness working these groups while illuminating the latest nationwide cartel environmental crime and public safety trends.
John also highlights the effectiveness and necessity of K9 assets for anti-cartel operations while addressing the pitfalls of current regulated cannabis policies throughout many US states (California, Oklahoma, Michigan, Maine etc.) and national solutions to these problems moving forward.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER:
With a love for wildlife and our nation’s wildlands, John became a game warden for the California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife in 1992 after earning BS and MS degrees at San Jose State University. He was inducted into SJSU’s Justice Studies Hall of Fame in 2018.
In 2005 John was promoted to Lieutenant, continuing his mission to protect and defend our nation’s wildlife resources. Nores has investigated environmental crime and wildlife resource destruction for the last 28 years and was awarded the Governor’s Medal of Valor for lifesaving and leadership efforts in 2008. He has received several other awards for valor, life-saving, and distinguished service throughout his career and along with hist teammates has survived four officer involved shooting incidents during cartel trespass grow operations.
John’s first book, War in the Woods: Combating the Marijuana Cartels on America’s Public Lands was published in 2010 with his second book, Hidden War: How special operations game wardens are reclaiming America’s wildlands from the drug cartels published in 2019 and the updated 2nd edition of Hidden War published in 2023.
In 2013 John co-developed the Marijuana Enforcement Team (MET) and Delta Team, the CDFW’s first comprehensive wilderness spec ops tactical unit and sniper element, aimed at combatting the drug cartel’s decimation of our nation’s wildlife resources.
Nores has testified in several and the MET have been featured on the Joe Rogan Experience, Change Agents, Danger Close, Meat Eater, Mike Drop, Fieldcraft Survival and other popular podcasts and highlighted on Fox News, NBC Investigative Reports, CNN, and Dan Rather Reports. Lt. Nores and his team are featured in three seasons of National Geographic channel’s award-winning game warden reality TV series, “Wild Justice,” highlighted in the Sportsman Channel’s Patriot Profiles: Life of Duty documentary TV series, Pursuit Channel’s Modern Shooter and Frontier
Unlimited television programs, hosts Recoil TV’s Thin Green Line film series and co-hosts the Thin Green Line and Warden’s Watch podcasts that discuss public safety and wildlife conservation topics and issues throughout the US.
The MET and their lead apprehension K9 Phebe were recognized for their environmental crime fighting and public safety protection efforts in California’s capitol through Resolution ceremonies in the Assembly and Senate in 2017 and in October 2023 and June 2024 Nores testified in the US House of Representatives on cartel related environmental crime, public safety and border protection issues.
Specializing in public and private land Transnational Criminal Organization (TCO) environmental crime enforcement tactics and training for the last 20 years, Nores has presented to conferences throughout the US including the California Narcotics Officers Association (CNOA), the Nevada Narcotics Officers Association (NNOA), the Wisconsin Rural Water Association, South Dakota Fish and Game Department and numerous other government and NGO organizations.
John is an annual Safari Club International (SCI) convention seminar speaker and speaks and teaches throughout the US on domestic public safety, border security, and environmental crime threats, is national and international conservation, tactics and youth hunter education instructor and has taught rifle, handgun, shotgun and basic and advanced sniper craft for the last 25 years and allied with the U.S. Secret Service in rural and urban protection details for former U.S. President Barack Obama and former Israeli President Shimon Peres. In 2007, Nores co-developed and instructed at an overt and covert wildlife investigators school in southeast Asia, part of the first game warden teams to teach in that part of the world.
Nores has authored articles for Recoil, Recoil Off grid, KUIU, Sure Fire’s Combat Tactics, Gun Digest and American Patriots: Unsung Heroes and Nosler. John is a worldwide conservationist, back packer, bass player and singer, two-time Ironman triathlete finisher and was the first to successfully solo the Baja 500 race on an ATV in 2013. John’s Baja team (J&J Ironman Racing) has raced to support and fundraise for El Oasis children’s orphanage since their first race event in 2006.
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