Anonymous
Source: Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office
Cannabis Compliance Team Identifies Illegal Grow and Seizes Approximately 400,000 Marijuana Plants
On October 29, 2018, investigators from the Sheriff’s Special Investigations Bureau served a search warrant in the 2700 block of Telephone Rd. in Santa Maria. The search warrant stemmed from a criminal investigation involving the illegal cultivation of marijuana that was concealed among existing farm fields. During the investigation, a Santa Maria resident was believed to have provided false information to county officials in an attempt to obtain a temporary state cannabis license.
Additionally, the subject had no valid state cannabis license and was found to be cultivating approximately 400,000 marijuana plants, which ranged in various growth cycles and maturity. Due to the size of the illegal marijuana site, detectives were assisted by members of the Sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Bureau, Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Team and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The number of seized plants at the cultivation site was the largest to date, and er adication efforts spanned over two days.
Based on the evidence located, the Sheriff’s Office will be requesting the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office review the information for potential charges related to the illegal marijuana cultivation and perjury.
The Sheriff’s Office and the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office would like to take this opportunity to remind our community members that Santa Barbara County has developed a county ordinance that provides a path to legally cultivate marijuana within the county.
Another gigantic waste of taxpayer dollars and law enforcement time and energy. But the Sheriff has to justify his helicopter somehow.
This is a good thing. It’s acknowledging the product, and the regulations. And, for the growers who go by the rules, they appreciate enforcement against those who are law-breakers. There are rules for things. There are rules for alcohol, and for cigarettes. They, too, are legal. The pot growers are not being picked on. Pot is now a business. Taxes, and all that.
I am so glad that we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to cut these plants down instead of spending it on enforcing any one of the thousands of other crimes and annoyances that impact our community. Its really great to see these $125k a year LEO’s using a weedwhacker while wearing their tactical gear as well. Super job boys! Its also great that these types of efforts push the illegal grows deeper into public lands so they can destroy the natural terrain and make the cartels even more money.
You can’t run an illegal still, produce illegal wine and you can’t grow marijuana without following the laws. You can do it legally. It’s just that simple. More complicated if you decide to be a crook.
Illegally grown pot is illegal. Would anyone drink moonshine that has a little wood alcohol in it?
again, massive waste of resources and tax dollars to fight something that IS LEGAL. The locals should NOT be working for the feds.
before you start siding with them, let me ask you this. what would happen if they let the crops alone? Nothing . Simply nothing. There is no crime being committed. The plants and the flowers are legal in this state.
Glad for laws, rules and regulations…there for a purpose. Glad for law enforcement. Thank you, Sheriff’s Special Investigations Bureau. Keep up the good work!
WHY??? It is legal now. Why can’t they leave it alone? We, the voters, decided to stop wasting all the money and time persecuting this plant. Why can’t the cops just let it go and spend their $$ and time fighting REAL crimes? Useless and a waste!
State and Local government is now a huge stakeholder in legalize pot as they are relying on the tax dollars. They have to eliminate the competition especially since it is cheaper, primary because of the high taxes. We have simply replace one supplier with another more expensive one.
totally agree and it really annoys me that even 5 people voted this post down. this is, again, a massive waste of our tax dollars and resources. there is nothing wrong with a plant in it’s natural form. you want to bust drugs? go after the heroin, coke, and pillpushers and leave the weeds alone. we voted. get over it. it’s a done deal friends…
so if a business that sells alcohol gets in trouble or sells to a minor, the cops come in and destroy all of the booze? not at all. this is still an ongoing war against pot. totally useless war and waste
Why not spray with Roundup? It’s much easier than weedwhacking and it kills the roots.
because it is terrible for other plants, bugs, animals, humans, waterways, and the environment in general