During a recent investigation, authorities in San Bernardino were able to capture illegal marijuana plants worth millions of dollars. The San Bernardino Police Department reported that they executed five search warrants and found marijuana plants with an estimated street value of $2.5 million.
The search warrants, which officials say found much large-scale criminal marijuana grow and distribution networks, focused on such activities. There were a total of 6,572 plants killed, 812 pounds of marijuana recovered, and over $2,000 in cash seized, according to the authorities.
The illegal plants were worth almost $2.5 million on the black market, according to the police. From the looks of the photos taken during the busts, it appears that multiple storage facilities were loaded to the rafters with tons of cannabis plants that had been grown illegally.
Police also discovered a pressurized butane honey oil extraction lab, which the San Bernardino County IRNET team later secured and demolished. The San Bernardino Code Enforcement Department, the San Bernardino Animal Control Department, and the California Department of Cannabis Control.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, the United States Army National Guard, and Southern California Edison all took part in the crackdown. The Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP) program of the California Department of Justice spearheaded a statewide marijuana crackdown earlier in 2022.
According to the California Attorney General’s Office, during that program, authorities in the state recovered nearly one million unlawfully grown cannabis plants and over 200,000 pounds of illegally processed cannabis. Across 449 separate operations, counties in Northern, Central, and Southern California were all aimed at.
Law enforcement officials not only removed 67,000 pounds of dams, water lines, and canisters of poisonous chemicals from the scene, but they also recovered 184 guns and a large quantity of illegal cannabis. Nonetheless, despite Attorney General Rob Bonta‘s assurances that California has the world’s largest safe, legal, and regulated cannabis industry.
The number of illegal and unlicensed grows is increasing. “These unauthorized operations have a devastating impact on our environment and the health and safety of communities and users of public land,” said Karen Mouritsen, California State Director for the Bureau of Land Management.
