11/05/2019
California has stepped up its enforcement against unlicensed marijuana grow operations.
Local, state and federal law enforcement in California have arrested 148 people and eradicated nearly 1 million unlicensed marijuana plants at grow sites across the state, according to a statement from the California Attorney General’s Office.
As part of the state’s “Campaign Against Marijuana Planting” campaign, law enforcement seized and destroyed 953,459 plants at 345 cannabis grow sites across Northern, Central and Southern California, Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office said in a statement.
Police also seized 168 weapons as part of the raids.
That’s nearly triple the number of people arrested in so-called CAMP raids in 2018, when 52 people were arrested and 614,267 plants were destroyed.
“Illegal cannabis grows are devastating our communities. Criminals who disregard life, poison our waters, damage our public lands, and weaponize the illegal cannabis black market will be brought to justice,” Becerra said in prepared remarks.
At a news conference Tuesday, Aug. 20 in Fresno, U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott outlines Operation Forest Watch 2 targeting illegal marijuana-growing sites using a banned pesticide in the Sierra Nevada.