Multiple-Day Cannabis Raids Underway in Trinity County
![An HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter, equipped with a mid-air refueling probe and side-mounted weaponry, sits on the ground in Hayfork as part of ongoing multi-agency raids on unlicensed cannabis grows in Trinity County. [Photo provided by a local resident]](https://kymkemp.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Blackhawk-helicopter-at-hayfork.jpg)
What appears to be an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter, equipped with a mid-air refueling probe and side-mounted weaponry, sits on the ground in Hayfork Tuesday as part of ongoing multi-agency raids on unlicensed cannabis grows in Trinity County. [Photo provided by a local resident]
“Operations were conducted targeting unlicensed cannabis cultivation sites in Trinity County,” Saxon confirmed in an email on Wednesday, June 25. “Search warrants were served on multiple sites that were confirmed to not be involved in the state or local licensing program.” He added that “[m]ultiple agencies were involved in this coordinated operation to assist in curtailing the black-market cultivation that continues to plague the legal market in Trinity County and in California.”
Saxon told us, “These illegal grows have a substantial negative impact on the many legal operators who make a significant monetary investment to contribute in a lawful business.”
A helicopter used in at least one part of the operation was photographed on the ground in Hayfork. The aircraft appears to be an HH-60G Pave Hawk, a variant of the Sikorsky Black Hawk used primarily by the U.S. Air Force for personnel recovery and combat support missions. This model is equipped with a nose-mounted refueling probe, allowing for aerial refueling, and features side-mounted weapon systems, suggesting a military or federal tactical application. Its matte gray coloring and configuration are consistent with those deployed in specialized operations.
Given the context of the Trinity County cannabis raids, it is plausible though not proven that the helicopter and its crew are assisting under a federal task force umbrella, which often combines state, local, and federal resources—including Department of Defense support under specific legal frameworks such as Title 32 or the DEA’s Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program (DCE/SP).
One resident reported to us, “Every morning for the last 3 days I heard a copter working west of the Pines. Yesterday I went to Scott Flat Campground and saw a huge law enforcement action there—I saw pickup trucks, ATVs, etc.”
The helicopter activity has not appeared on public flight tracking platforms such as Flightradar24, further fueling curiosity and speculation. Sheriff Saxon noted that more information may be available once the agencies involved have completed their debriefing.
“I hope to have some additional information tomorrow when the teams complete the operations and have a chance to de-brief,” he said in his email yesterday.
The raids are the latest in a series of enforcement actions aimed at curbing illegal cannabis cultivation in the county, which like the rest of the Emerald Triangle has a thriving unlicensed market operating alongside the regulated industry.
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Get some.
A giant waste of resources…
It’s that time again…
Agreed. Ruin about 30 people’s lives. Let thousands alone..
What a waste of money. Walk down the street and buy a joint
Just in time!…Marijuana use dramatically increases risk of dying from heart attacks and stroke, large study finds | CNN https://share.google/4VXvlRF1iMYZ2oLyp
You said “dramatically increases…”. Where are they?
One thing that’s for sure is that more use marijuana, and more people admit using it to their doctors now. At the same time, we all live longer now, and everybody still does of something. Then you’ve got to look at correlation between weed smokers and income, and income and availability of healthcare. Are there other lifestyle, or eating habits that tend to go along with pot smoking, that could contribute to greater stroke and heart attack. How do these stats compare with other products we consume, like tobacco, and ice cream?
Thank you
Not to mention the antibiotics, hormones and all the other medications that pollute our water…
Antibiotic resistance probably begins in bacteria that are exposed to runoff and effluent from treatment plants…
I didn’t say anything. I just hit the link and that statement came with the link. Look at everyone freaking out on me!! Ha ha! I’m guessing this study will be used when the feds decide weed must be under FDA regulations when they try to corner the market. We of the green market revolution won’t let them. ( Permit Pansies will cry and whine do not trust them in the true battle for freedom)
Then, towards the end of the farticle they drag out the ‘ol marihuana ” is 5-10 times stronger than in the past.” Complete BS. There’s a book called “Bad Science” about bad science. They use one aspect of weed propaganda as an example of bad science. Specifically the claim that weed is more potent now than in the past. The DEA tested weed seized. In 1978 the potency range was something like 1.9%-13%, in 2008 the potency range was 2.5%-14%. So there may be more better weed than 40 years ago, but that has more to do with people learning how to care for it, and processing in a big air-conditioned warehouse instead of a tent in the rain in November. The range of potency is about the same. Most claims of increased potency through breeding are specious. You hear it from both coked up bros at the bar, AND from coked up drug warrior administrators…at the bar, talking loudly at each other. Potency testing is further full of shit, non standard, easily manipulated, and fake to begin with. There is no dried marijuana flower that is 30%thc molecules by weight. Maybe trichomes are a certain percentage THC by weight, I don’t know. Somebody chime in with exactly how testing is done. Do you grind up the whole bud? Test a certain sample size of crystals, sift it? Dry it? Shove the whole thing in a spectrometer? I imagine some flower might have more trichomes, some trichomes might be high or low THC…
I will agree that potency percentages as shown on packaging must be wildly inflated. I’ve gotten weed that claimed to be 40% or better (about what hash used to be “in the day”) and there is no freaking way that is accurate. A true 20% might be pushing it. And I’m not saying it isn’t a fair bit stronger these days. I remember having to smoke two joints of the “good stuff” in the 60’s
to get high, rather than a couple of puffs now. But 40% or better? Ain’t happenin’.
EVERYTHING on the label is fiction. The strain name is a joke, organic is absurdity, THC of 50% in your noninfused untrimmed smalls preroll? Sure. It isn’t a new trick. It is literally shoved down your throat since birth. It’s called marketing folks, and boy does it work!
LOL! Back around 1975 a friend and I left class at the University on another Coast. A buddy had given us a pre-roll of “Acapulco Gold.” Yup. And it was very yellow weed. Got two miles down the road and neither of us could drive the VW. ONLY time that has ever happened. All they’ve done is bred for couchlock and stupidity. Bred the laughs that came, even with the seedy Mexican greens, browns and yellows (watch out for that paraquat) in the early ’70’s, right out of it. But I did grow some massive Afghani plants 50 years ago. Nope, just bred the good out of it and focused on incapacitation.
Yip
But……. legalize it completely and take the big money and cartels out of it . If people want to destroy their bodies let them just don’t ask me to pay for it. Get a job pay taxes and toke up or don’t if you want to. Me I am staying away from it
Lol ❤️. Legal can’t work under taxes. Black market rains supreme. Its not like booze. Lol god darn dummies
Of course that is NOT what it says, but sure.
We can’t take the whole “Save the Children” vibe very seriously when Congress forbade the CDC to even look at gun deaths, either self inflicted by accident, suicide, or violence. That would be an example of premature deaths.
Look at how ineffective a zero tolerance Prop 65 approach is; you have a Prop 65 carcinogen warning on EVERY COMMERCIAL DOORWAY. On EVERY car window, on bags of bread you might toast. The warning must be ignored to function. Does any person hesitate to hop in their new car and go to work because you finally read the window sticker you left on forever?
With marijuana use, you have the Baby Boomer generation, who are now approaching the age where one is absolutely likely to die from any cause. What are the most likely health related ways to die? Heart attack and stroke. The generation approaching their typical lifespans are also the generation who generally accepted the use of cannabis (again) and were more likely to have tried it at some point in their lives, and admitted it. Again, so far there is more specific evidence that eating ice cream regularly will prematurely shorten your life than the relatively small percentage of our population regularly consuming THC. Do we not all collectively live longer now than people born 100 years ago? Ignoring all other factors, and picking Shakey correlation, I could claim smoking weed helps you live longer!
All got to die sometime. Are you a saint
Fake news
Living is dangerous. Life is fatal in every case. So have a good time and enjoy your self destructive journey. Have another cheeseburger in paradise…..
I call bull shit, I’m 80 and been smoking cannabis since I was 15 and I’m in good health because I smoke cannabis
So where are all these victims of heart attacks from cannabis? I have been a resident of the Triangle for over 50 years. I have smoked a ton of pot in that time, with no cardiac problems and so has everybody I know. None of us have died from smoking pot or had a heart attack or stroke. The study you refer to is anti pot propaganda. And is therefore suspicious of fake news…Perhaps the people in the study also smoked tobacco and drank alcohol. I am now 75 years old today. I recently went through a full cardiac screening and had no issues to report. In fact, even though I smoke pot I smoked the treadmill. So put that in your pipe and smoke it!
Small potatoes
https://www.themainewire.com/2025/06/national-guard-joins-feds-in-massive-california-marijuana-raid-that-leads-to-arrest-of-70-illegals/
Hmm… Oddly, I don’t see any side-mounted weapons ?
Here’s one with a typical door mounted gun.
Good they need to bust all the illegal farm. Pay to play if they want to grow.
The illegal grows in Trinity are a disaster on many levels and I’m happy to see that there is finally some enforcement against them. Curious to hear about the status of the work force too – some much speculation about forced labor and illegal workers.
Lol they will get 50 out few thousand
What became of Posse Comitatus?
AI
The Posse Comitatus Act, enacted in 1878, restricts the use of the U.S. Army and Air Force to enforce civilian laws. It generally prohibits the military from acting as a domestic police force. The act was passed in response to the military’s involvement in domestic law enforcement during the Civil War and Reconstruction. While the Coast Guard is not covered by the act, other branches of the military, including the Army and Air Force, are restricted in their ability to enforce civilian laws.
It doesn’t apply. Congress approved the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting making Posse Comitatus inapplicable.
Probably not right
Im wondering why small grows are being targeted in Humboldt,mendo, sanoma ect while 500 multi acer greenhouse operations that are unlicensed are able to run freely in san Bernardino co and all over the high desert down south seems like a land grab
It’s all in knowing which palms to cross
They dont have enough enforcement. Plain simple. Grab here and there. And they do enforcement where u questioned.
Wasn’t there a song called the hoopty hoop? This is a big one down in the desert. How many are there?
That looks like Cabazon.
Another one
Is this Torrez Martinez?
And another one
Ha! Anal road.
This one looks like Torrez Martinez too.
Abandoned to pollute the desert
This one too. Only took a few minutes on google earth to find these.
Cool. Now do clear cuts.
All this illegal green house site here are running by the big boss DEA
Im wondering why were spending so much money on weed theas lil grows are not worth messing with . Go AFTER FEDDY AND METH IDIOTS
Imagine we out the same effort and resources into Fentanyl in Eureka. We have weird priorities. Weird is a nice way to put it. Sick is another.
FOLLOW THE ‘TAX ‘MONEY !!!
Weird how they concentrate on the outdoor grows. Anyways, when they flew over my property I just laughed and went about my business. So they pull a few plants. It’s almost comical the lack of understanding of this business by not just the government but corporate now as well. They underestimated us which after nearly 40 years of growing this plant is a huge advantage for me and my family. Their idea of what a grower of the weed is far from reality. We have decades of experience in this business and against enforcement.
lol, In closing, lol. I wish the federal, state and county government happy hunting and continued success in wasting tax dollars. I welcome you in advance for providing each one of you a career of necessary employment, your welcome. To my corporate enemies I will do everything I can to ensure your losses far surpass billions of dollars. With respect to my local legals I only hope for your success but let us not forget it is still a war and the war will never end until the plant is truly free.
Sincerely,
Enforcement job creator.
So tired of these cut and run illegal growers – deport them
Unbelievable ,listening to all these holier than thou ‘legal ” growers.you know that if it weren’t for a group of illegal pioneers getting ahold of some seed and producing in gorilla grows and remote farms the rest of you legal folks would be shifting all over yourselves to buy that stuff.now that anybody with a tongue to lie to have a script to be “legally out got yet nose so far up in the air you can’t even smell your own stench .I see bad players on both sides of this scene.ease up a little .and start being better neighbors and build better communities.peace all .
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DI1YQ-hODS6/?igsh=MXRjY2EwNHNodTEwcQ==
the old ways Are unsustainable with the old ways of thinkin.
the destruction of our future generations hopes of living free on the land will be a history channel episode , a three part series, Max.
people who control the carrots and the sticks will define our definition of imagination.
the humans are predictable
What was that they used to spry on pot in the 70’s? Paraquat?
Funny! The “thriving unlicensed market” they are trying to stop us about 50% weed grown by permit pansies that is being sold out the back door. Ha ha ha!
Lousy waste of taxpayer money.
“Legal grows” are the black market.