Published
4 years agoon
LOS ANGELES — Authorities seized more than $1.5 billion worth of illegally grown marijuana plants in California this year as part of an annual eradication program, officials said Monday.
(Office of the Attorney General)
“Folks are going to grow this stuff because you can make money,” Becerra said Monday at a news conference.
Becerra pointed to the death of Brian Ishmael, a Northern California sheriff’s deputy who was killed last month while responding to a call regarding a reported theft from an illegal marijuana grow in the rural Sierra Nevada foothills, as an example of the dangers that law enforcement faces in combating the issue.
In 2018, officials said they seized more than 614,000 plants from 254 sites during their CAMP operations, when efforts were hampered last year because of the wildfires, said Jack Nelsen, a special agent supervisor with the attorney general’s office.
Authorities could not estimate a street value of the plants seized and based their figures on wholesale prices of $1,600 per plant.
The illegal grows harm the state’s wildlife and waterways, officials said.
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