MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – This week Lake County Sheriff's narcotics detectives located and eradicated approximately 23,286 mature marijuana plants from two separate grow sites in the Middletown area.
Lt. Steve Brooks said that in April narcotics detectives conducted routine overflight missions in Lake County to locate and identify illegal marijuana cultivation sites.
During the overflight, detectives located what appeared to be two large commercial grow sites, Brooks said.
One of the grow sites was located in the Dry Creek area of Middletown and the other was located in the Butts Canyon area of Middletown, according to Brooks.
At 7:30 a.m. Monday, detectives arrived at the Dry Creek grow site where they located the camp area which appeared to have been occupied by three people, Brooks said.
Brooks said the water was being diverted from a spring and was dispersed through an elaborate irrigation system to water their plants. Detectives also located fertilizer, pesticides and ammunition in the camp area.
They searched the area and were unable to locate any suspects or additional evidence. The detectives located and eradicated 11,739 mature marijuana plants from the site, Brooks said.
At 2 p.m. Monday, the detectives arrived at the Butts Canyon grow site, Brooks said.
During a search, Brooks said detectives located the camp area which appeared to have been occupied by two people. They noticed that the water for the plants was being diverted from two springs.
Brooks said detectives searched the area and were unable to locate any suspects or additional evidence. They did locate and eradicate 11,547 marijuana plants from the site.
Brooks said the Sheriff’s Narcotics Unit will continue its efforts to eradicate narcotics from the communities of Lake County and seize the suspected profits of drug trafficking for asset forfeiture whenever possible.
Authorities eradicate 23,000 marijuana plants from Middletown grow sites
- Lake County News reports
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