By Elizabeth Stuart | Phoenix New Times
It takes a saguaro cactus about 75 years to achieve its iconic, armed stature.
It takes a couple burly poachers about 30 minutes to steal it.
“They just wrap it in carpet to protect themselves from the spines, then they dig up its roots and heft it into a truck,” said Zeke Austin, special investigations supervisor for the Arizona Department of Agriculture. “It’s not sophisticated.”