The Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office Marijuana Enforcement Team has seized more than 3,000 illegal plants and multiple firearms during a weekend operation in the Coulterville area, authorities said.

Investigators served search warrants Sunday at two properties on Hirsch Road and Old Yosemite Road in the Coulterville/Greeley Hill area, according to the sheriff’s office. The operation resulted in the eradication of 3,173 illegal marijuana plants, the seizure of seven firearms, and the recovery of a small amount of methamphetamine.

Officials said the properties were part of what they described as larger, illegal cultivation operations tied to organized drug trafficking groups operating in rural areas.

“These were not small personal grows,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement, adding that illegal cultivation in the region is often associated with sophisticated trafficking organizations that damage the environment, use natural resources illegally and bring crime into rural communities.

The sheriff’s office said the seizure of firearms show the danger posed to deputies and the public during such operations. Officials added that removing the weapons from circulation made the area safer.

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