Yuba County Sheriff's Office Press Release: Illegal Cannabis Cultivation – Dixon Hill Rd, Dobbins
At approximately 8:00 a.m. on 7/5/19, the YCSO Marijuana Enforcement Team (METYU) with the assistance of Yuba County Code Enforcement officers executed a search warrant in the 13000 block of Dixon Hill Rd in Dobbins. During the search, Deputies located and eradicated approximately 1,224 marijuana plants at an outdoor grow in an non-permitted temporary greenhouse structure. No suspects were located at the site during the search.
Deputies conducted an approximate one-month long investigation of the site which investigators first became aware of following a fire at a related grow in Forbestown in May, 2019. The Dixon Hill Rd grow location was then confirmed by overflights of the area.
Ruined these peoples day.
These people too. Smh.
Deputies take down 21 illegal weed greenhouses and rooms on Merced County property | Merced Sun-Star
CRIME
Deputies take down 21 illegal weed greenhouses and rooms on Merced County property
BY
THADDEUS MILLER
JULY 04, 2019 04:48 PM
The largest illegal marijuana cultivation site of the year so far was busted up on Thursday in Merced County in a former tow yard, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Merced County deputies served a search warrant in the 27000 block of Ingomar Grade in Gustine, detained 12 people and confiscated 8,086 plants growing in makeshift greenhouses, Sgt. Ray Framstad said.
On the property were 21 greenhouses and rooms for growing that were full of plants and dry products worth at least $2 million to $3 million on the street, Framstad said. The greenhouses were inside trailers and storage containers.
“It’s the biggest this year and it’s the biggest outdoor nursery that we’ve seen,” he said. “This is a facility from start to finish.”
Deputies regularly break up illegal cannabis sites in rural parts of the county, like the
12,040 marijuana plants confiscated in May.
The property was reported to the Sheriff’s Office because it was an eyesore and residents were tired of seeing all the trash that collected and chemicals drained into the creek, according to Framstad.
“When we passed the ordinance in Merced (County), that was our biggest concern, keeping people from out of the area setting up shop in Merced County,” Framstad said. “Many of the people we contacted today are from out of the area, out of the state.”
Merced County Board of Supervisors voted in 2017 to
push all growing inside and reduce the number of legal plants to six, which is also the state standard.
Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke has been an outspoken opponent of cannabis cultivation, saying it attracts violent crime and funds cartels and other organized crime.
Using the techniques and types of plants used at upscale indoor cannabis growers, Framstad said, outdoor growers can harvest three to four times a year rather than the traditional annual harvest.
None of the workers were armed but deputies found four firearms on site, according to deputies. Workers may have also been at risk of industrial injuries as chemicals, pesticides and exposed wires were found all over the property.
The Sheriff’s Office suspects the site was being grown by organized crime, Framstad said. A relatively new team from the Sheriff’s Office is targeting “quality of life issues,” he said.
Information collected on Thursday may lead to other illegal sites or rooms holding product, Framstad said