Over 50,000 Marijuana Plants Eradicated on Two Parcels in Lake County
Lake County marijuana grow raided by DFW and other agencies. [Photo provided by the DFW]
On Aug. 4, wildlife officers with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) with support from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, California Department of Food and Agriculture and other allied agencies, served a search warrant spanning two parcels in the Scotts Valley area of Lakeport in Lake County.
The warrant stemmed from an investigation involving environmental damage associated with illegal commercial cannabis cultivation. The operation involved personnel from six separate agencies.
A records check confirmed that neither of the parcels were licensed by the state for commercial cannabis cultivation.
On site, officers and staff eradicated 51,799 illegal cannabis plants, confiscated seven firearms, seized over $27,000 in cash and documented approximately 40 Fish and Game Code crimes.
Violations included garbage piled up near various waterways, numerous unpermitted water diversions, illegal grading of the landscape resulting in sediment discharge and stockpiles of chemicals near waterways. One cultivation site was built over an existing stream resulting in a modified channel into a ditch with polluted water. Each violation alone can have a detrimental environmental impact but combined, are degrading entire watersheds at the expense of California’s diverse fish, wildlife and plant resources.
Twenty-six individuals were detained during the operation including two minors – a 16 year-old girl and 17 year-old boy. Criminal charges will be filed with the Lake County District Attorney’s Office. No further information is available at this time.
CDFW encourages the public to report environmental crimes such as water pollution, water diversions and poaching to the CalTIP hotline by calling (888) 334-2258 or texting information to “TIP411” (847411).
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thanks kym
we dont see any of these on lake county news
its the second bust ive heard about in lake county for 2020
Rice is planted in water, its also one of the most pesticide laden crops.
Wrong county, dude.
Get er done!
so don’t eat it
What the hell…..
Looks like they missed the first auto flower crop!That’s the second round! Cartels are going this route, killing off animals and polluting waterways and planting 51,000 plants. Glad they caught it! Not cool
Looks like they missed the first auto flower round! That’s probably the second round! Cartels are running these kind of operations, using auto flower seeds to keep small plants, but large numbers. 51, 000 plants. Killing the environment and trash everywhere, not cool.
Yuck!
⚡⚡Were they wearing masks?
Wild. My 6 plants will harvest more than those 50,000.
So glad this bust happened.
Fuck these field-of-dreamers!
Screw them long and screw them hard.
I don’t know about that. Math is not really one of my strengths but I figure that (optimistically) if they get an ounce per plant it comes out to over 3000 pounds.
I have seen some outdoor plants that looked more like trees than plants or bushes but I would guess that your 6 will produce less than 50 pounds under the very best of conditions.
They wont get an ounce per plant…..
….because they got busted!
😂
Indeed.
52,000 x 0 = 0
Minus expenses, of course.
It probably is an autoflower 2nd round, so the year could still be a profitable one, especially if the operators have multiple properties.
Glad they popped this one. That ditch is nasty and wasteful.
Yeah, and they’re the ones dreaming!
Don’t worry @The Real Brian, I get your point. I wondered if it was even worth the effort to have so many small plants this late in the season, but I can’t fault @buster’s math. Not that I know shit about growing.
Glad you get the point.
Buster’s math is sound.
Even if they had gotten 2 grams a plant, they would beat me.
But yeah, what a shit show.
Devide their potential “big pull” by the amount of people detained and I’m looking better though.
If that’s their only grow….you think that someone who puts in 50k plants doesn’t have 2 or 10 grows? I met one guy who said just grow enough that no matter what they can’t take it all.
Oh I dont know.
I grow enough on a little patch and don’t get raided at all.
But that’s me. There’s different models out there, to each their own.
If I did 1/4 of 50,000 plants on 5 parcels each, I would expect a raid on all of them.
I’m also an environmentalist. So I try to be a good steward for those that come after me.
O boy an environmentalist. The planet we are on has been degrading since it was formed. Environmentalists think they can control it, or reverse its course. You can’t and you won’t. So enjoy the control trip.
Environmentalists = OCD
That’s not what environmentalists believe… okay maybe some tiny percentage believe that. But come on. Environmentalists are just advocating for the environment, to create a positive relationship, to mitigate the destruction, etc.
Hey, for once we agree Brian. I sure do love to see an orchard of 10 lb trees…these thousands of sickly little plants are ridiculous…that ain’t Humbolt at all. Huge, full term outdoor trees, that’s where it’s at.
Looks like they missed the first auto flower crop! They replanted the second and got pinched. Good,killing the environment and polluting, not cool.
First article of a bust in a week. And not in mendo or Humboldt. Kym, has there been no activity this week? Lot different than last year. Less busts because of Covid? Or Just less reporting?
Many busts just lots of media blackout. They don’t want you to know everything that goes on around here.
Less reporting–but not for any nefarious reason.
This last week the HCSO has been busting on the Trinity County border and I didn’t get much in the way of tips from readers. Nothing I could confirm.
Today HCSO confirmed they were the agency in charge and promised more info tomorrow.
For a personal reason, I’ve been not as in touch as usual. About ten days ago my husband’s stepdad’s home burned to the ground. He’s staying in our living room as we renovate space for him so I’m a little busier and more distracted than usual.
Even at an ounce a plant that’s 3125 pounds.
Looks like a pretty piss poor operation, but maybe they went in late and small to keep under the radar… either way, that didn’t work.
3125 ÷ 26 = 120lbs each.😂
Minus clone costs
51,000 × $5 = $255,000
And setup expenses! Guessing $15,000 ish.
Oh, and they likely bought that property recently.
Good job guys!
They’re migrants. Not condemning just saying. They might be workin for a white person but You can’t get 26 white people to show up to work. And as migrants they don’t get an equal share, they get pennies on the dolllar, if even. When you get large scale you cut costs. You don’t buy clones you produce your own seeds, typically. It’s allot easier to make 50k seeds than 50k in clones when quality doesn’t matter as much as quantity.
“They might be workin for a Jew but You can’t get 26 black people to show up to work.”
See how stupid and racist that sounds by changing the race or ethnicity?
You must have never tried to get 25 hippies to show up for work.
I have and it’s like pulling teeth Unless your giving out the goodies. There’s too much risk in it this week as well. Better to just get 5-8 hardworking hipnecks and a trim machine. Pay piece meal and just punch it out. There’s some hardworking folk out there once you’ve taken three years to weed out the BS college kids and Stoners.
Clones may have been sprayed to keep them from being “buggy.” Better to know where EVERY input has been and how it has been treated.
Yep. The August Blitz tactic….classic green rushers…
Who the fuck cares about some dope growing hippies in lake county?
Catch some real criminals already, pedophiles and murderers is what you should focus on.
I doubt that the people financing this operation are hippies. Maybe not the kind of criminals that you are talking about but probably not hippies. Murders?…wouldn’t be the first time.
Nope most likely not hippies. Lol.
Someone who is doing something much worse would say what you just said, pollos. Perhaps your brotherly chicken operation is just a front!
Not a hippie’s grow. Maybe a tweakers though.
It’s the middle of August now, all strains “oughta-flower” at this point. Cast your vote, the election still happens even if you support the candidate or not so much.
Erosion mania! Had to be an acre or more. What an absolute swag show.
50K plants.. all on Red Plot #27.. I would hope a farmer growing tomatoes like this would get taken out.
OMG what do I see? A ROOKIE CREW. Sure you can slam out all that. However they got ahold of the site, it will never be the same. Probably spent 65 70k to put it in. Pretty good return if you can pull it off. But damn that’s a hell of a mess. Then when harvest comes it all winds up some nasty swag, sitting in the shed …no buyer to be had. Ever notice all those larges busts usually include several hundreds if not 1000s of pounds sitting there. Hmmm.
Industrial runs can be done on 5 pounds at a time or better. I’ve seen a “washing machine” in LA that would strip trichromes from 5 pounds an hour. Full profile stripping into an air tight container and shipped off to the edibles plant for dosing.
I however agree there is a lot of product that goes in purchased. I fact I’ve helped to burn large piles of bud when it went bad and the grower didn’t have time to deal with it. Imagine burning 15 pounds because it was taking up space and not moving like the new crop.