LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Two men were arrested and 300 pounds of processed marijuana was seized during a search warrant service on Tuesday.
David Russell Draper, 68, of Kelseyville and Brian Matthew Bareis, 27, of Fort Bragg were arrested in the case, according to Lt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
On Tuesday Lake County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Task Force detectives received information regarding a large marijuana grow on a property located at 9475 Bottle Rock Road in Kelseyville, Brooks said.
The marijuana grow at 9475 Bottle Rock Road was observed and noted by detectives during an overflight operation conducted in late May.
Brooks said it was reported that Draper and Bareis had just left the property in a silver-colored Dodge Ram truck.
Detectives believed that Draper was associated with several other marijuana growing operations located in the 7000 block of Highway 20 in Lucerne, according to Brooks.
Shortly after receiving the information detectives located Draper and Bareis in the truck, traveling on Big Valley Road in Kelseyville, and conducted a traffic enforcement stop for vehicle code violations, Brooks said.
Both Draper and Bareis said that they had just visited the property to deliver items to a contractor who was working on the property. Both men denied being involved in the marijuana grow, but Brooks said detectives later learned that this was not true.
Detectives obtained and served a search warrant for a total of five locations: 9475 Bottle Rock Road and 3715 Wood Plaza Way in Kelseyville; and 7004 Highway 20, 7232 Highway 20 and 7242 Highway 20, all in Lucerne, according to Brooks.
As a result of the searches, a total of 267 marijuana plants were eradicated and 327 pounds of processed marijuana was seized, Brooks said.
On the property located at 9475 Bottle Rock Road, processed marijuana was found stored in camouflaged steel boxes that were hidden along the tree line near the grow site, he said.
On the properties located at 7232 and 7242 Highway 20 in Lucerne, processed marijuana was found stored in steel boxes that were buried underground, according to Brooks.
Both Draper and Bareis were arrested and booked in the Hill Road Correctional Facility for cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, and conspiracy to commit a crime.
Bail for both men was set at $15,000, with jail records indicating that both later posted the required portion of bail and were released.