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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The investigation of a suspicious vehicle parked in a remote area off of Highway 175 near the Mendocino County line Thursday morning has resulted in one arrest for marijuana and weapons charges, and a five-hour multiagency operation to search for two additional suspects.
Arrested was 41-year-old Malaquias Parras Ramirez of Santa Rosa, according to Capt. James Bauman of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
On May 5 at approximately 8:30 a.m. a detective sergeant with the Lake County Sheriff’s Narcotics Task Force was traveling out of county on Highway 175 when he saw a suspicious vehicle parked in a turnout approximately a mile and a half from the Mendocino County line, Bauman said.
The vehicle, a Black Toyota Camry, was occupied by two men dressed in camouflage clothing and a third man dressed in camouflage clothing was standing near the car urinating, according to Bauman.
Bauman explained that when the detective sergeant stopped to contact the men, the man standing outside of the car immediately ran and fled into the brush on foot.
He said the detective sergeant drew his duty weapon and ordered the other two men in the car to raise their hands but the driver suddenly exited the car and also fled on foot into the brush in the same direction as the other. The third man seated in the back of the car, identified as Ramirez, was detained at gunpoint and the detective sergeant requested emergency assistance on his radio.
Multiple units from the sheriff’s office and the California Highway Patrol (CHP) responded to the area to assist the detective sergeant, Bauman said. As the first backup units arrived at the scene Ramirez was taken into custody.
Sheriff’s deputies began posting themselves along the highway to try to contain the two outstanding suspects. Bauman said a search of the Toyota revealed several potted marijuana plants and a loaded handgun drawn from its holster, lying on the floorboard where Ramirez had been sitting.
Additional resources were requested to respond, including a CHP helicopter, a law enforcement K-9 team from the U.S. Forest Service, and agents from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bauman said.
Once additional resources arrived, a ground team that included the U.S. Forest Service K-9 began tracking the mountainous area the two suspects fled into. Bauman said the K-9 led the team into a large gorge where they located a “drop site” where illegal marijuana growers had left numerous spools of drip line, bags of fittings, fertilizer and other supplies used for marijuana cultivation.
The team continued to follow fresh tracks beyond the drop site but after tracking the suspects for nearly one mile, the K-9 began to lose their scent and trail, Bauman said.
At approximately 10:30 a.m., a CHP helicopter out of Redding arrived in the area to assist with the search of the suspects. Bauman said attempts to locate and apprehend the two outstanding suspects lasted until approximately 12:00 p.m., at which time the operation was suspended. The ground team had tracked the suspects into such rugged terrain that they had to be extracted by the CHP helicopter.
Ramirez was transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility where he was booked on charges of cultivating marijuana, transportation of marijuana, being armed in the commission of a felony and possession of a loaded firearm in public, Bauman said. He remains in the custody of the sheriff without bail due to an immigration hold.
Bauman said the Lake County Sheriff’s Office intends to seek federal prosecution of Ramirez, which could potentially result in a sentence of 10 years in federal prison for the crimes with which he is charged.
It is believed that Ramirez and the other two suspects were interrupted by the detective sergeant while they were engaged in setting up a major illegal marijuana cultivation operation, Bauman said.
He said much of the mountainous area surrounding Highway 175 that is managed by the BLM has been host to such operations in past years.
Bauman said the investigation Thursday occurred in roughly the same area as a similar incident in August 2008 when a CHP officer spotted a suspect walking into the woods after a van dropped him off on the Hopland Grade.
In that 2008 case, three Manteca men would be arrested for marijuana-related charges following a response by federal and local law enforcement, as Lake County News has reported.
Bauman said the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, BLM and the U.S. Forest Service are continuing their investigation into this and other suspected cultivation operations as “Operation Full Court Press” nears.
He said “Operation Full Court Press” is a multicounty, multiagency operation to eradicate illicit marijuana grows on federal lands.
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