$100 Million Worth of Marijuana Discovered in Thousands of Trash Bags in Southern California Facility
An operation led by the sheriff’s department revealed 90,000 pounds of processed illegal marijuana in southern San Bernardino County.
The sheriff’s department reported that the marijuana was estimated to be worth $100 million.
The trash bags weighed between 30 and 50 pounds each, according to the report.
Over the following two days, the marijuana enforcement team, in collaboration with the county’s code enforcement team and the California Fish and Wildlife Department, processed the scene. In total, they removed 51 truckloads of processed marijuana, exceeding 90,000 pounds, from the building, as per official reports.
“The investigation is still ongoing, and no arrests have been made,” the sheriff’s department stated.
According to San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus, criminal organizations are behind these illegal growing operations.
“These are not small mom-and-pop shops; this is a black market, large-scale business, often run by cartel and criminal organizations,” Dicus remarked.
In January, six individuals were discovered fatally shot in eastern San Bernardino County’s high desert, with police attributing the killings to a botched illegal marijuana transaction.
“Our communities are safer with over 42,000 pounds of illicit cannabis taken off the streets since the beginning of the year,” Newsom stated. “Through the [task force], California continues its efforts to combat the illicit cannabis market to ensure consumer safety and support the legal cannabis industry.”
The governor instructed state agencies to intensify their efforts against organized criminal enterprises involved in the illegal marijuana market.
The illegal operations not only jeopardize the state’s legitimate market, but they also utilize banned pesticides and unregulated practices that pose a risk to the environment and water quality, according to the office of the governor.