Authorities seize $1.19B in illegal marijuana in largest LA County bust
LOS ANGELES – Officials in Los Angeles County seized more than 16 tons of harvested marijuana from illegal grows last month, authorities said Wednesday.
The estimated street value of the seized plants is estimated at $1.19 billion, KTLA reported. More than 400 personnel from multiple departments and agencies served 205 locations with search warrants during the operation, the television station reported.
Multiple law enforcement agencies carried out a 10-day operation in the Antelope Valley last month and arrested 131 people and seized of more than 33,000 pounds of harvested marijuana plants, KTTV reported. Officials said 373,000 marijuana plants were confiscated, KNBC reported.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva called the action a “historic” bust.
“What we want to do is send a clear message to the cartels and anyone doing illegal operations in the High Desert: Your days are over and we are coming for you,” Villanueva said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Officials took care to differentiate between the Antelope Valley operation and the legal marijuana market.
“This is not a war on the legal cannabis business in California,” U.S. Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., who represents the area, told The Associated Press.
Garcia said he saw many illegal greenhouses when he took a helicopter ride over the area.
“I saw hundreds, if not thousands, of these illegal nurseries throughout our desert being manned by primarily illegal immigrants,” Garcia told KNBC. “Over 90% of the folks working these farms are indentured servants of some form. They’re stealing our water, in many cases, they’re squatting on our land.
“I want to be very clear that these are not mom and pop or legal operations that we are fighting,” he said. “These are large-scale illegal operations in many cases being run by several different cartels right here in our backyard.”
The operation began on June 8 after authorities received tips and complaints from residents in Lancaster and the Antelope Valley, according to KTLA.
