Over One Hundred Hoop Houses Found at Covelo Property; Fines Over Three Million Dollars Proposed
![Matt LaFever Matt sent Today at 2:47 PM Law Enforcement on Biggar Lane [Crop of a photograph provided by a Round Valley resident]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/220886862_781978592467997_4517410344909924960_n.png)
Law Enforcement on Biggar Lane in the Covelo area. [Crop of a photograph provided by a Round Valley resident courtesy of MendoFever]
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 June 2021, the County of Mendocino Marijuana Enforcement Team (COMMET) was contacted by officers from the Mendocino County Code Enforcement Division, who reported an non-permitted commercial size marijuana cultivation operation that spanned over several acres/parcels in Covelo, California.
After speaking with Code Enforcement, COMMET and the Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force (MMCTF) began investigating the properties in question.
During the investigation, aerial overflights of the suspected properties were conducted.
The overflights confirmed the properties were cultivating marijuana in excess of state law. During the investigation, over one hundred (100) plastic style hoop houses cultivating marijuana were observed, that spanned over several parcels.
During the course of the investigation, law enforcement officials learned these particular properties were denied cannabis growing permits/licenses by the County of Mendocino and the State of California.
Due to the overwhelming amount of marijuana and the overall size of this illegal operation, COMMET and MMCTF requested outside assistance for a multi-agency search warrant service.
On 07-29-2021, approximately fifty (50) law enforcement officials, as well as civilian employees from these respective agencies, all participated in some aspect of the search warrant service on the suspected properties located in the area of the 24000 block of Biggar Lane in Covelo, California.
During the course of this investigation, several people were located and detained at the properties and subsequently interviewed regarding their involvement with the operation. A primary suspect was identified, however was not at the location during the service of the search warrant.
In total, the aforementioned properties were found to have a total of 104 plastic style hoops houses, which were all being used for the purposes of marijuana cultivation.
A total of 14,495 illegally cultivated marijuana plants were located and eradicated. In addition to the marijuana plants, a total of 7,590 pounds of processed bud marijuana was also located and destroyed.
At the conclusion of this investigation, a criminal complaint will be forwarded to the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office for consideration of criminal prosecution.
Mendocino County Code Enforcement, who conducted a parallel investigation, will also be pursuing legal action with fines in excess of three (3) million dollars for observed violations.
On 07-29-2021, the County of Mendocino Marijuana Enforcement Team (COMMET) observed additional marijuana being cultivated in the 24000 block of Biggar Lane, on two parcels owned by the Round Valley Tribe.
It should be noted, illegally cultivated marijuana was located on these same two properties on 06-07-2021, where several thousand marijuana plants were eradicated by COMMET.
According to tribal members, this marijuana growing operation was being conducted by individual(s) trespassing who did not have permission to occupy the land.
After the discovery of this recent trespass growing operation, the Round Valley Tribal Police requested the assistance of the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office in eradicating the marijuana.
A total of 5,511 marijuana plants were destroyed as a result.
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office would like to recognize and thank the following participating agencies who assisted in the successful operations conducted on 07-29-2021.
County of Mendocino Marijuana Enforcement Team, Mendocino Major Crimes Task Force, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Detective Bureau, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Division, Mendocino County Code Enforcement, Department of Cannabis Control, Mendocino County Probation Department, California Department of Fish and Wild Life Wardens & Environmental Staff, California Highway Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigations (F.B.I), Drug Enforcement Administration (D.E.A), United States Air National Guard, Homeland Security Investigations (H.S.I), Willits Police Department and Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (C.A.M.P.).
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Raid em!!! Good work now sell the million dollars worth of weed and give me a tax break!!!
the owner actually tried to pay taxes ! I can’t hate on this operation , I don’t see one environmental violation 👏..
Seriously? 15,000 plants? Where do you think the water came from for this many plants and what impact do you think it had on the Eel River? That’s the worst environmental violation of all – pure greed is killing the River and its fish populations
Seriously
Cry me a river.
Wine cultivation and every agriculture product needs water.
Stop crying it drains the ell river.
It’s just another agriculture crop.
Did you cry today about the tomato farm using thousands of gallons of water?
Did you cry when the almond farmer flooded his field?
No you only cry when it’s cannabis.
Cry me a river already.
Even wine grapes can be food in a pinch. Probably only tobacco is closest to pot for being so unnecessary to life but having an addicted coterie of users.
Unnecessary? Eating and juicing cannabis in a pinch is very nutritious. It’s not just for smoking as a lot of fools think.
Mabye they can sell some green juiced smoothies at the dope fest labor day weekend. Might be old news though.
I eat the leaves in my homemade pesto almost daily.
The tribe owns the land. Some Council members are using tribal land and equipment for massive non permitted grows. The sheriff is aware of the situation and seems to be determined to enforce the law as much as he can
You seem to have missed out on some facts: marijuana is a medicine; endo-cannabinoid deficiency diseases are the symptoms treated. There is no such thing as “recreational” marijuana: you may be unaware, but you are treating chronic disease when you experience the changes that go on in you when ingesting. All child abuse produces an exhaustion of the endocrine system being able to produce internal cannabinoids; instead stress chemicals are produced until you are so chronically stressed that you no longer can know how stressed out you are. Your “high” is a temporary return to normalcy such that you re-experience happiness. Children have adequate endo-cannainoids–until the effects of abuse build up– and thus can be happy and play.
The whole discussion of marijuana has been high jacked by the police and their clever initiatives which set up the current situation. That marijuana is called a type 1 substance is just a stupid ruse to justify right wing fascist savagery. How many people die each year from alcohol? How many people die each year from tobacco, sugar, GMO’s, ag poisons? Millions upon millions.
Seriously? No worse than the same greed as other farmers and ranchers. Cannabis doesn’t use any more water than other crops.
Yup, and only because of weed. …Only weed! All the water that vineyards and orchards use has zero impact on rivers and streams. Weed for sure uses up all the water … AND voted for Biden. Probably voted for Trump too, just because weed likes to ruin everything! God weed, just leave us alone, your so mean!
lol
3.8 million @500/lb.
So it was Legal at one point?
Seems very vague
So after all the tough talk from Mendocino County on raiding bunch of farms, they bring in the cops to raid a farm who applied to go legal? Big investigation…..
To raid a farm who chose to cultivate after asking and clearly being told no. Seems to me that should be top priority for enforcement.
If tribal police work in round valley they should know what land is what if there are people growing on a certain place and tribal land they should know the difference what a bunch of shit paid off all they are so sheriff officers should be able to see that what a big joke paid off paid off every where this shit never going to stop greed over taking the moral of these offers duty’s and what they stand for
good
Fine them and put the money into creating fish friendly reservoirs and water projects for future droughts.
Covelo was proposed to be a Lake at one point…..
Everybody seems to think that fines will be paid? They are already talking about spending that fine money… It’s a joke. No criminal charges, no arrests, no fines will be paid and it will take years to seize the properties. Until then expect replanting over and over and over….Why not?
Once weed is worth 50$/lb nobody will give a shit. Soon come
And once the property is taken over by the county, guess who will be on the hook for cleanup and remediation? Fining the property rather than the perpetrator must have seemed like a good idea, so much easier than taking someone to court. But it’s just the beginning of a whole new headache.
Seems like a pretty good way to discourage the locals from leasing to the cartel to me.
ditto
U hit the nail on the head what the f,,, is wrong with people? U know as well as I, I’m sure, nothing good ever happens when the cartels involved, people Dieing over weed it’s a plant u can replace it u can’t a life. The cartel is taking over your land o the money they pay u to rent your property the money doesn’t last but the cartel does. Stop please just think of the people your land your loved one’s.
What the fines do though is make it impossible to renew a drivers license etc. Im not for it by any means but they realized that you will either hide/leave for the statute of limitations or take it to trial and you will have a very very good chance of being let off if tou take it to a jury in humboldt and this way you can never out run it. I went through the same thing, they will garnish wages block registration, seize tax returns efc.
What would the the fine be for ? this grow had zero environmental violations 👏! As I understand from this release ,cultivation is no longer illegal.
$200 a plant one time penalty $200×14,495=$2,899,000.
$520 dollar fine per structure per day 520×104=$54,080. Don’t know how many days charged.
$1000 dollar a day fine for breaking ordinance. Don’t know how many days charged.
Im there are more penalties but that’s broadly close to the 3.5 million in fines.
Hoop houses are limited in quantity. Plastic hoops are limited in who may enter. Those are facts without knowing anything else. I’d bet money there were compliance issues, hence the permit being terminated.
Wasn’t terminated it was denied. Don’t think it was ever legal. Way o er permitted able size of 10k square feet for mendo counfy.
Read the very end of the story it clearly states that’s where the fines are from is what they noticed around the property, not just the weed.
might want to put the 7590 pounds off site next time. Grandma’s broom closet?
Lol too funny. One would think you wouldn’t just leave all that laying around, maybe like a rented place somewhere else……like a stash house.
The property should be confiscated and given back to the tribe from which it was stolen.
I highly dought a grow that big in a residential area was not known about by the owners.
They are claiming it was a trespas grow? Yeah right, tribal members were probably whoring the land out to the usual Spanish speakers that work so hard doing the jobs that Indians don’t want to do.
After all, covelo was Mexican land at one point, right liberals?
Somebody greased somebody’s palm. Just like all the gangster-run cities in the 1920s and 30s, they couldn’t have done it without friends in high places paid to look the other way.
Hunter Bidens laptop did it, tool.
This grow was extraordinarily obvious. Electric gates, cameras on the road. Black shade running along the entire fence line. If the tribes didn’t know about it, then they don’t know anything that goes on in this entire valley. But we all know that they knew….because everyone knew about it. There is some serious corruption here from the tribe that will not be investigated at all.
And yes, the west coast used to be Mexican, although I have no idea what that has to do with anything, nor your insistence that “liberals” know more about history that you do. I’m sure you are capable of the research, friend!
Um.. taking a stab at liberals while missing the point that you’re dancing over, not so clever ha
Do better, Canyon Oak.. do better
they’re the ones leasing it …. “on two parcels owned by the Round Valley Tribe.”
It says that the property is owned by round valley tribe..
They were probably taking about the first raid with the 104 hoops which there was no mention of tribal lands. The secondary raid was the trespass on tribal land.
Sell the millions in weed and fully restore the area back to natural state or build something for the tribe either way the sheriff needs to stop dumping millions in the trash. I’m sick of paying taxes to bust these asses. Time to actually get something fines don’t work and you can’t jail them so…… CAPITALIZE ON THEM!!!!
where’s the pictures??? Kym we love our pics,,,where’s the pics, 100 hoop houses,,,PICS???? Or not it’s your site.
Yeah, why do they have to destroy the weed all the time? We can’t bring back the water now. At least do something positive with the weed and stop those people from doing future damage.
I wonder how much water they must have used? I feel thirsty.
https://www.times-standard.com/2021/07/06/study-cannabis-farms-not-as-thirsty-as-previously-thought/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479720308847
The weed probably won’t pass testing…. it’s garbage for legal sales.
It was Mom and Pops, but then they went over the 99 hoop limit.
Haha, that’s a good one.
Home run ha
Something about mom and pop, fair wages, ball fields.. something..
Where’s the meme? I’d laugh at it
Please read the article: its tribal land, most likely held in trust by the federal govt for the tribe. how can they levy a fine and lien on property that is owned by the federal govt?
more idiocy from the county of mendo. clearly this type of growing is disgusting, and im pro cultivation in general. but the reason these properties are grown on is that either the land isnt worth very much, or like in this case its tribal land.
only mass production of cannabis flowers and products along with federally decriminalizing cannabis, will stop this type of stuff. because even if weed is dirt cheap in CA or OR, its still worth a heck of a lot more in other states.
we also need to treat cannabis exactly like any other agricultural crop. look at the environmental destruction that wine and cattle grazing does…. blah blah blah…
narrow minded people think its all one or the other, that is the problem when we all contribute. put solar panels on your house, try to eat a diet that has a lower carbon and water footprint etc…
If you read the press release, there is a separate cultivation site on tribal land that doesn’t appear connected, the cops really like to lump things together to seem important.
Seems like a big waste of money, if it was once legal, why the big show? So Mendocino County can pretend they had some good investigation skills?
Pretty sure the county had all the information from the application paperwork. And once you apply the county has the right to inspect. They could have dealt with this in a cheaper way.
You please read the article. A lot of people can’t comprehend very well.
Charlie
On 07-29-2021, the County of Mendocino Marijuana Enforcement Team (COMMET) observed additional marijuana being cultivated in the 24000 block of Biggar Lane, on two parcels owned by the Round Valley Tribe.
It should be noted, illegally cultivated marijuana was located on these same two properties on 06-07-2021, where several thousand marijuana plants were eradicated by COMMET.
According to tribal members, this marijuana growing operation was being conducted by individual(s) trespassing who did not have permission to occupy the land.
Separate locations, from the first.
I was mainly replying to secret, not you. But the it never stated it was once legal
They should only been watching it for sure though.
” A lot of people can’t comprehend very well”
As Charlie doesn’t comprehend the article….
What did I not comprehend? Doesn’t say it was once legal, just states permits were denied. Could of been never legal but applied and denied. Should of been on their radar early for sure.
Fines were for the first bust, while the second bust was the trespass on tribal lands which there were no mention of fines..
Where were they getting their water?
Do you live in Covelo, the Land of a Million Rusted Water Tankers?
Either wells on the property or trucks. Looking at Google earth doesn’t look like streams near the location.
I recently sold a property in Southern humboldt on owner carry loan. I’m curious what the counties process is in the case of a foreclosure and repossession. Do you civil penalties transfer back to the original owner?
Yes they are attached to the parcel. As a financier you do have legal responsibility when engaging in the sale and financing of the property. In short if you are first position those are you’re fines too because if the buyer defaults you’re stuck not them. They get to walk and now you have to attempt to sell the property with the code violations and fines attached.
Tribe owns the land…who pays the fines. They KNEW the site was a mega grow at least 2 yeats running and did nada. Hmmm interesting conversations pending!
No conversation will be had. The feds won’t touch it because of the optics. Most of the cycling members of the council rent this land out, as well as most of the members who work directly for them. Until the tribes cares enough to severely punish their own constituents for criminal behavior then all is for naught. It functions more like a crime syndicate than any other tribal federation I have ever worked around in California: South, Central, and Northern.
You pay the fines, right hand stealing from the left pocket! Jk, bs
As I understand it(or misunderstandit?!) the fines were in regards to the #1 bust and maybe not the subsequent bust on the tribal land.
Why am I here reading this stuff.. so frustrating
One wonders if anybody who supported legalization will ever concede that the prohibitionists had a good argument, even if the outcome they desired didn’t align.
There was No mention of fines on the trespass grow raid on tribal lands.
“Excellent”.
Awww, C.A.M.P. is back how touching!! Couldn’t resist those dollars get handed out to others. I wonder if they are still beat’in the shit outta people when they show up or they just there for the coffee and donuts?
Take the greedy criminals out…
Everything above being said. The tribe profit immensely from it remaining illegal. Lots of tribal land with tntc grows…which is a lab term for too numerous to count. You’re correct about commenters the infection runs deep I highly doubt there is a single Tribal member that isn’t influenced by cannabis that being said check out all these articles. It probably could be good for the tribe to develop their own round Ali brand and bring some employment and do some stuff but who knows what they’re doing. Who knows why they’re not considering it.
https://www.cdc.gov/phlp/publications/topic/resources/resources-marijuana.html
Soo.. over the top. Seriously though it just seems the more the price dips.. the bigger and more outlandish these grows get… The weed is probably on par with Bails of Hay.. or worse.. Surprised there is even a market for this kind of stuff still…
Kinda Crazy how ignorant the end consumers are about what kind of “Meds” they flood their brains with..
“Bails of Hay”
LOL
A long, long time ago…in a galaxy far, far away…in Humboldt County, seeds and stems. Double albums were great for separating them out. I think that’s why I’ve never really liked pot. Smoking that stuff didn’t do anything to me. By the time the “technology” had advanced I was over cannabis.
It’ll be like buying a six-pack of Natural Light instead of some delicious micro-brew.
DeFund!!
Take a step back everyone.
Looks like a giant micro-plastic farm to me
I got 99 hoops
But permitted ain’t one