Over $40,000 Seized, More Than 30 Detained: Sheriff’s Department Releases More Information on Large Cannabis Bust on Wilder Ridge Road
This is a press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office. The information has not been proven in a court of law and any individuals described should be presumed innocent until proven guilty:
On Nov. 27, 2018, deputies with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) served four search warrants to investigate illegal cannabis cultivation on the 4100 block of Wilder Ridge Road, east of Honeydew. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife assisted in the service of the warrant.
The parcels investigated did not possess the required county permit and state license to cultivate cannabis commercially.
During the service of the warrants, deputies located a sophisticated cannabis cultivation operation, including processing buildings, living quarters and multiple light deprivation greenhouses that appeared to have been recently harvested. Deputies seized and destroyed approximately 16,000 pounds of processed cannabis. Deputies also located and seized one firearm and over $40,000 in cash. While on scene, deputies detained more than 30 people, most of whom provided deputies with Eastern European passports for identification purposes.
Multiple water diversion violations and stream bed alteration violations were observed on scene.
No arrests were made during the service of the warrant. The investigation will be forwarded to the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office for review.
Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.
Processed cannabis being destroyed on sceneProcessed cannabis in totesCannabis drying facilityMultiple water tanks on sceneOutside of cannabis processing facilityGenerators located on scene.Additional water tanks on sceneCannabis processing roomLight deprivation greenhouse
Earlier Chapter: ‘Most Bud I’ve Ever Seen in One Place,’ Says Lt. Fridley of HCSO
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Nice set up oh well should of had the permits.
So now fish and wildlife and Humboldt county are doing illegal excavating? In the rain? That violates the california water board general order. Its obvious in the picture there is netting mixed in.
Another violation
It’s time to hold the government to the same standards
Somehow it’s doubtful that pushing around moutaibs of processed pot qualifies as excavation.
In the other article on this site, LT Fridley is quoted saying they dug a 3 foot deep trench.
Not my rules they are the water boards rules
We all know the rules apply to those who are regulated, not the regulators.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
they should start confiscating the land as well as the money and pot.
and why arent they looking into the money they sent out of the country? they use simple methods
They probably are. Here’s just one of the country’s out of the several POTUS has EO’d on. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-blocking-property-certain-persons-contributing-situation-nicaragua/
shak,
this is not to do with this thread necessarily . Did you see this yet?
https://www.dcclothesline.com/2018/11/27/world-famous-scientist-god-created-the-universe/
Fake news.
https://innotechtoday.com/michio-kaku-clears-god-discovery/
“The final solution resolution could be that God is a mathematician,” says Kaku. “The mind of God, we believe, is cosmic music. The music of strings resonating through 11-dimensional hyperspace.”
I was going for the spiritual part. Uni (one) verse (music).
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=michio+kiku
Anybody that can set up harmonizing arrays to deter radiation has my yes vote. He’s a modern day Tesla.
Awesomely fascinating.
These are bulgarians, Shak! Eastern European mobsters! These are the immigrants you’re supposed to like!
They went that-a-way? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSVj9vk-Y0s
Agreed! get rid of growers like this, most of the $money foreigners make leaves the area or country. It’s about time they got busted. Anyone with this large of an operation or means to go legal & permitting and not… get rid of them. And if the bust was serious, they would of got all their ppty’s, not just one which is a slap on the wrist. Deport & don’t allow them back in the country. Rude foreigners exploiting the area.
Bulgie grow?
Why didn’t they take these folks out before the market crash In 2016?
Say no to foreigners exploiting our home!!
Deport them all, and never allow them to return!
no permits = no plants. 30 of yall get to be fugitives until your next traffic stop. Viva La 64!
How can they be fugitives when there were no arrests?
Maggie will just roll over and pee in the wind.
I’m curious about the workers. Thirty or so trimmers, mostly eastern European, possibly double that amount of workers at various times of the year. Living quarters, commercial kitchen, transportation to the US all available to the people but at what price? This makes me think of the company towns in the days of old. Do these workers have to pay for room and board? Is there a company store where they can buy things without leaving the farm? Are they able/allowed to freely leave the farm anytime that they feel like it? Are they each holding their own passports or is their a scene boss who holds them? What’s the rate of pay? When and how do they get paid…US currency, scrip? OSHA approved…US labor laws and taxes? Lots of questions….
“… a mind that’s weak and a back that’s strong… you load 16 tons, and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt… Saint Peter don’t you call me cause I can’t go, I owe my soul to the company store…”
Good questions. Most keep their own passports and important info. They travel here on their own. They bring friends. They look for work usually by standing near a store front asking for jobs. Rate of pay is negotiable. Used to be better than now. So, because of pay drop they must provide their own food. Which means shopping themselves at a local store. Cooking is like camping at most places. Some have kitchens if your lucky. Before pay was better and food and beer was provided. It’s changed because the price of medicine has gone down. Way down. I am sure less people from other countries will come next year. Until there is none. I’ve made some great friends thru the years. Met great people. Travelers. I may in turn visit them someday.
Third generation… Emeril seems to have a bit better grasp on what I’ve seem. It’s not going away, … just the money… the cartels are the only one making much money now… high percentage of Bulgarian stuff goes off shore from here
Third Gen: Your explanation seems more like what happens to western europeans….(spanish, french, italian, etc.) Most of the eastern European trimmers ( bulgarian, romanian, russian, etc.) have a different experience, described by some of the posts here…
Yes – many questions indeed
How is this moved around? It`s a huge logistics problem with thousands of tons, perhaps tens of thousands of tons that need to be moved across the country & S. CA.
It seems unlikely a large percentage is hauled by Joe or Susie drug mule 20 or 30 lbs at a time in the trunk of rental cars. 200 lbs at a time in U-Haul trucks doesn`t seem likely either. A CHP told me that rental cars are quite obvious to cops. If I were in the cop business, I`d shake down every rental car or U-Haul truck I saw. I`d guess the small time rental car or U-Haul is a very good way to get some time in the big house in Iowa or Kansas or wherever.
Those clever, industrious Slavs must have transportation figured out and arranged. Semi trailers? Is a semi headed to Chicago or Milwaukee with a cargo manifest of computer screens sealed? Does the driver have access to the load? When Double Clutch Joe backs under a semi headed to a terminal in Cleveland, does he even know what is in it? Are cops paid off along the route? This seems very unlikely.
Obviously I don`t want to know names and places; just very curious about this.
Empty chip trucks have been used in the past. Rarely get a second look from cops. And there is a reason every small airport in Humboldt and Trinity counties are full of twin engine planes this time of year. Dinsmore and Ruth airports were full of twins a few weeks ago….
[edit: Please use non slur names] like to use semi trucks with refrigerated trailers they’re air tight and supposedly cops are hesitant to open them exhaust they don’t want to be held responsible for ruining a load of perishables by opening it up. Oh and they are able to move tonnage not a 50 pack.
apologies, I wasn’t aware that was a slur name as it’s just basically the name of their country shortened.
I didn’t think of it either the first few times I read it. But eventually I realized and I haven’t allowed it for about a year.
Understood and I will refrain from using it again. It never even occurred to me that it is not okay to use.
Yes. In PC California you must call them Eastern European Americans, perferably with a Sir or Ms infront of that.
That’s right. Civility is a plus everywhere.
It’s the ‘must’ that is destroying our civility.
?????? What the hell!!! Shush it up!
Savoir faire….
Is everywhere….
Pc=bs
I have software called Flightradar24 it shows almost every flight the world over. There are several twin engined planes that fly out of Humboldt everyday. Sure they may be totally legit, or the could have 50 pounds on board.
John Ripper… I know a lot of Bulgarian weed goes off shore from here… I don’t know all the details of how it gets outa the hills and onto the ships cuz I don’t want to 🙂
It goes to Chicago (where these Bulgarians are coming from) then out the Erie Canal to Europe/where ever.
Ya I want to be harassed just because I’m in a rental? What is this a police state now! It’s a plant not a dead body
John ripper you have asked this question multiple times in the past. Go rearrange the evidence locker/ get a hobby bruh.
I`ve asked the question because until now I haven`t gotten a satisfactory answer. At least there seem to be some in Humboldt who aren`t stoned all the time and pretend to haveJamaican accents.
Reefer trucks do make sense. I would imagine cops are reluctant to unload $100k of frozen food to find nothing. Dogs I believe are likely a joke; they`ll do anything the handler wants and only serve to justify a shake down. I`ve heard too many stories of dogs not finding something when they should have.
Smuggling in airplanes….. of course it happens but probably not much. I would think they`d be too easy to track and bust on landing. In a light twin, how much weed can you carry? 200 — 300 lbs?
Cops do look at rental cars and U-hauls. It`s called a pretextual drug stop. A friend got stopped in a U-haul somewhere in the midwest & searched. She was legitimately moving her possessions and thankfully she was clean. A friend recently foreclosed on a property due to the dimwit owner getting busted in a rental car returning from the east coast. His cash was seized and apparently he had some pills which are going to earn him some time in the big house.
Man all I’m reading is a bunch of sneak dissin and dry snitchin on here y’all are a bunch of opps.
I don’t understand your mentality. Why are black market weed growers so special that regular law-abiding citizens are supposed to look the other way while a crime is being committed? Growers make my life miserable on an hourly basis yet I’m the bad guy if I say anything about it? Screw you and your wannabe mafia attitude!!
Why? Because the “Black market”, in the real world, is brokering debt instruments -counterfeit currencies and “derivatives,” that cause unnecessary suffering -and we look the other way while fraud is dripping off of the inner walls @ 825 Fifth Street, Eureka, California state.
“It is a fact that no paternal government, whether ancient or modern, ever shrank from regimenting its subjects’ minds, beliefs, and opinions. If one abolishes man’s freedom to determine his own consumption, one takes all freedoms away. The naïve advocates of government interference with consumption delude themselves when they neglect what they disdainfully call the philosophical aspect of the problem. They unwittingly support the case of censorship, inquisition, religious intolerance, and the persecution of dissenters.” -Misses
Thanks, I am concerned of these responses to a public comment on a known message board, damn nimrods!!! When the war is truly over and we get banking, interstate commerce and the pigs leave us alone then we will talk about how we moved our product.
Numbers. Grow 16000 lbs, if a few hundred here or there get caught in rentals or uhauls or whatever so what? 15000 More lbs and plenty more mules where that came from. Besides, if you can afford to run that big a grow, you can afford to run a few produce or furniture companies, too. These are worldwide organized crime syndicates, not small farms.
The boss pays the employee travelling fees and passport when they arrive they are met at the airport and taken to trim where they r held untill they trim 20 grand worth of weed or pay them. They then stay in the us past the designated time. Happens all the time in panther gap. Most are women that r trafficked by other women who then tax around 25 a pound for each pound done. So quick math 30 people trimming 2 pounds a day, the pimp hustler gets 25 bucks on 60 pounds done each day so 1500 a day. They might make 30 to 100 grand in a few months. It’s all trafficking to exploit ones services while skimming money off the top. Europeans now days r grease nuggets that rip one another off. The boss pays 125 the 30 trim migrants get 100. I cant make this shit up if I tried.
Your 100000% on the money with all of that ! Trim moms or aka trim pimps . Panther gap is Bulgarian territory for sure ! And most honeydew , an ettersburg as well to duty vile
Emeral… pretty spot on
This is also true on some farms. Just not on the respectable farms. Usually asians trimmers have a head boss that speaks English for the crew. The grower pays $100 lb. The asian boss gets 25$ each lb. That is trimmed by his/her trim crew. The trimmers get 75$ each lb. There has been this type of human trafficking going on for years. It just hurt the local trimmers jobs. I remember locals getting pissed off because the growers would hire the cheaper crew who undercut the locals. Excepting a cheaper pay rate.
Groups of Asian (Thai ?) women do the same. Way undercut local labor.
Ya all are funny cheering on the collapse of are local economy. Cheering on a rip off extortionast local government. Lol. This is a little excessive but there coming for the small timers (mom&pops) too.theyll eventually clear out all the locals as well and our communitys will shrivel and die.and the ones that stay will live in total poverty. Ya-all must be transplants
Na. . . . they vanish to Galt Gulch, a hidden valley, where they wait for the government to cave in, collapse, thereby ushering in, by necessity, a truly free market. Ayn Rand lets the chips fall where they would, in favor of the creative individual and his private property, his own inventions. Atlas Shrugged 1957.
Rand is also a Russian. What’s with you comrade? Most of your alt right fake news seems to be hacked russian propaganda.
Speaking of Russia Russia Russia, Dan Bongino’s viral video explains the spygate so sensibly that even a 3rd grader can understand it. https://bongino.com/watch-dans-viral-speech-on-the-biggest-scam-in-american-history/
Fake news.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/obama-campaign-use-tactics-cambridge-analytica/
It wasn’t about Cambridge, it was about FISA and the other nonsense. But you’d know that if you’d bother to listen to the audio.
The arrival I posted wasn’t about Cambridge Analytical either, it was about the false accusations leveled at the Obama admin. Cambridge Analytical was used as an example of the tactics they were accused of using.
The info is stacked against them, and only time will tell us the truths. I’ve followed a lot of the brilliant investigative journalists and all have been down the same bread crumb trail that Dan pointed out. The funny part? Dan used the “Liberal” articles for his summaries, while most of the others I’ve followed used all sources of info including documented materials, reverse images, facial recognition, and so on. In other words, the truth has been right in front of us all along. The upcoming hearings and testimonies will spill out even more, especially after the Docs are released unredacted.
All roads led to Rome, shall we say.
All minds lead to bias, so it’s important to remain open despite our best info. (Snopes is hardly a ‘best info’ source, but even they’re right twice a day for optics sakes).
We’ve gone thru this before D A V E.
Ridicule without substance is from the lower end of the gene pool.
Collapse of an illegal economy, good riddance and all the ills that came with it.
Good-bye funny money.
You must be a total fool to call 8 tons of bud “a little excessive”.
Blaming the supes for cartel weed is missing the point entirely. Wake up.
Hey Disgusting Supervisors….these are the people that took Mom and Pop out. Use your head.
I’m anxious to hear the names in the police report.
Guest you will eat your carma someday!!! [edit]
Awww, Siwwy Wabbit, aw u sad cause yo bwak mawket Bud was busted?
Guess you just eating yo sour karma grapes
What are you getting all worked up about? Because I’m curious as to who it is? WTH? And FYI there are numerous “Guests”
I’ve got it. You can be The Former Guest. ~kidding
We should make bets on Maggie, and if names are ever released.
Dis Soup I’ll eat my “carma” because someone blew their scene up off the charts?? Someone is getting Karma alright and it sure the hell isn’t me…and will never be..
Ever see those brand new shrink-wrapped boats tooling up the hiway? What do you think is inside? Not required to stop at ag inspection as they have never been in the water… I asked dude “What do you do with the new boat once it gets to where it went?” “Fuck that boat”, he said, “Its just a tax, do you know how much weed I can get in a new gutted 22′ Bayliner? Leave it on the side of the road for all I care…”
Note to self- take a much closer look at boats!
Maybe this explains why I see so many pristine boats on the Sohum roads in the rainy season..
Exposed for once eh. This all over humboldt people. These guys make billions. Yes billions. 40 k was grocery money for that week. And yes. They are paying Estelle and the planning Dept to turn a blind eye. My guess…. this operation did not pay this year
A dollar? I’d say thats a pretty low ball estimate 16k lbs is a fuck load by any standard, but even if nothing happens because of this price wise this was still a win for the market regardless
And people here for forty years and small scenes get abatement order.
Things that make you go hmmm.
I think this is absolutely fantastic for the locals of Humboldt County people who have lived here their whole lives no more exportation by the bulgarians it’s about time they busted their ass and i am thoroughly thrilled with Sheriff Pusser bravo bravo bravo Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office I was beginning to lose Faith ,but you guys reinstated my faith, and what’s right .that is the biggest bust I have ever seen .that is just pure greed who knows how long this operation has been working .Now just send them to prison the back to there foreign Homeland.
and no arrests. this is why we need an extra law that says if you come to this country and commit a crime it gets a special enhancement or extra charge. then we could just charge them with coming to this country and committing a crime, otherwise they can just leave now and never serve a day in jail. dumb dumb dumb. dont make it easy to come here and commit crimes.
That sounds good on paper, until we hear how they would rather serve time in our comfy prisons instead of facing prison time in their own countries.
They need to spend time in their own countries or we need to build prisons for them here that are the equal to theirs in as many ways as possible. That will never happen.
When are they gonna build that damn wall!
These growers sure love plastic. They’d have to quit and go home if it weren’t for plastic. Check out the trim-scene room. All those festive spots of red–plastic cups. As outside, so inside. Plastic tables with plastic trays, drinking from or dipping their scissors in plastic cups. I imagine they eat on disposable plates with plastic forks.
It’s symbolic of their whole mentality of throw it away, trash the scene, then run away (unless busted first).
Trash.
That scene you are referring to looked to me like they were having a party of some sort….birthday party maybe? Anyway, for that sort of an operation, no one is going to bring in fine china for meals. I wonder if they even had running water, or did they have to haul that in?
Pretty sure I have those fools a solar consultation. Super sketchy, glad we never did business.
Bob and tommy started this with the tiwanese don’t get it twisted
That makes sense, then I don’t imagine there will be any arrests.
Hey at least they had fire extinguishers in the drying room! Hahaha
This thread escalated…. quickly –
None the less dont be surprised to see your IP’s supeoned if any of this comes to fruition. What you say online is forever .
oh yeah? They aren’t even going to prosecute the people responsible but you think they’re going go after “unprovable” comments on the internet? Good luck with that one.
They put out a statement before the grow season that said we will file charges later, meaning if we bust everyone there will be to much paper work and full jails, so we will take care of matters later!
Finally a pot bust to get Kim comments. Yeaaaaaa.
Those (edit) probably used soooo much bloombastic
These kinds of grows probably use a lot of really disgusting nutrients, pesticides, herbicides, rodenticide. How can they even move their product. Why would anyone buy this kind of crap? The fertilizers needed to grow this kind of shwag are nasty.
Basically if you use high number phosphorus, most of it comes from hard rock phosphate, which is loaded with the heavy metal Cadmium. It is bad enough in food, but at least your body can filter it out, but if you inhale, it is extremely toxic to your lungs.
It is so ridiculous that the state does all this testing.. and one of the most dangerous elements, they do not test for.
If people do smoke this stuff, do it through a bong only. Helps a bit.
And if it has mold and powder mold on it and you are ill, be shure to throw it in the oven at 300 degrees, and it will kill most microbes. It will brown it, but it is better than smoking mold. But better yet, don’t. Shwag shwag shwag. Humboldt is better than this..
Humboldt USED to be better than this, about 15 years ago.
Some Humboldt will always be better than this.
Chemicals. Most likely…. but don’t underestimate(edit) weed. They know what there doing and produce massive amounts of mold free,PM free, chronic ass marijuana. With millions as a back, you pay to get it done right. Look at there scene? Unlike other busts on this page, there’s are almost always spotless, they run it like a military would…… a machine! Look they even have an air conditioner in the middle of the woods for there indoor/drying shed! That’s pimp
Its pimp until its not, then its ovah. ….bitches.
If it is ‘mold’ or ‘powder’ free, that is even worse! Probably use stuff like eagle 20. Or copper, or worse. Seriously doubt they take the time to do this in a holistically healthy way. I have no doubt they might produce a product that might appear as chronic to people who don’t care or don’t know any better. But it’s crap. Toxic. Nasty. Probably on par with Bsters. Bsters, canaidian bud that used to come down from Canada. It was cheap, looked nice.. but it was total total chemie crap. And really the worst is the heavy metal Chromium. Look it up. It is stores in the heads of the trichome, And is very unhealthy.
I really hope Humboldt can over come this impression of crap swag bud and regain some standing for quality cannabis.
Agreed 99 percent however we ripped through several boxes with only a ounce of mold and never sprayed any fungicides whatsoever. It can be done.
How many Adidas tracksuits were seized? There had to be @ least 50 sets @ a scene this big!
Ha, thanks for the chuckle!!
Ah, it cracks me up… THATS the stuff they don’t talk about in press releases 😂
About time that local sheriffs stepped up and went after organized crime grows. These people are extremely well funded so may not have some of the infrastructure issues (thus avoiding certain violations) that locals trying to stay afloat have, which might make them less ideal of a target for Leo’s. The economic (and cultural) future of this county is dependent on how much of the industry is captured by locals who will raise their kids here and be part of this community vs outside money (either criminal or corporate mafia). If the only available jobs for local families is serving these people filets at fancy restaraunts, we are culturally doomed. But BOS doesn’t care, only looking towards their next election and their pocketbook.
This bust will be good news for Fortuna Starbucks.
Approx 16,000 lbs. No plant counts.
One greenhouse pic. Notes of 4 properties being connected….
It begs the question if this was a central -trimming station for many, many, many bulgarian/Russian violent growers.
Many more than 4 other properties most likely, try around 20-40 different growers stash in that mix.
I’ve heard of such places.
Glad to see it go down!!!
Nailed it. This spot was definitely a trimming/curing/drying hub for the Bulgarians. You say they are violent but I would say the opposite. They keep to themselves. The local tweakers/old school growers are the violent ones. The Bulgarians and Russians operate fairly professionally and stick to themselves.
https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/lessons-from-bulgaria-can-mexicos-cartels-be-institutionalized/
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2018/11/12/bulgaria-is-latest-nation-to-withdraw-from-un-migration-pact-following-u-s-hungary/
The various country Cartels are competing for dominance over American druggies? The UN is helping the ones who stick with the UN branch of Cartels?
‘ . . . while taking advantage of weaker law enforcement in their host countries.’ That about sums it up.
~oh Humboldt.
Comments about Addidas track suits are CLEARLY racist… (Kym?)
You’ll have to convince me that making a comment about the type of clothing someone wears is racist. I think I can state that most homegrown white guys in Humboldt are wearing hoodies and bill caps without being considered racist. But, I’ve been known to be wrong before.
I’m with ya on that one Kym….. LOL
Got my weekly dose of comedy central reading the comments on this on. Oh……and good job LE.