More than 400 illegal marijuana grow houses busted in San Bernardino County
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - More than 30 people have been arrested and more than 400 cannabis greenhouses have been shut down as part of a series of San Bernardino County Sheriff's operations.
Between Jan. 31 and Feb. 6, sheriff's deputies issued warrants for illegal marijuana growing operations at 25 different locations across the county, including Landers, Twentynine Palms, Lucerne Valley, El Mirage, Phelan, Apple Valley, Hesperia, Pomona, Alhambra, and Monterey Park.
The arrests are all part of the Sheriff's Department's Marijuana Enforcement Team's "Operation Hammer Strike," and has been going on for more than five months now. Investigators arrested 31 total people, some from as far away as Queens, New York. The county sheriff's office said it had received multiple complaints about large outdoor and indoor marijuana grow operations in these areas.
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While cannabis is legal in the state of California, laws in San Bernardino County prohibit all commercial cannabis activity, including growing, manufacturing and distribution within the county. As part of the latest round of arrests, investigators seized more than 60,000 marijuana plants, 2,500 pounds of processed marijuana, four guns, and over $471,000. County officials seized nearly just as much as part of arrests from the previous week as well.
The 31 people arrested as part of this operation could face fines and potentially prosecution.
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