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Monday, 03 September 2007 23:59
Sheriff’s Department Announces Marijuana Grow Bust In Pioneer
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Amador
County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Detectives located the operations concealed
within the Mokelumne River canyon. The
two sites stretched over a mile, through numerous draws, in extremely steep
terrain. The
cultivation sites were cleared and rendered safe by the Amador County Sheriff’s
SWAT
Team, assisted by the El Dorado and Calaveras County Sheriff’s SWAT Teams. A total of 12,330 marijuana plants were located within the two
sites. The marijuana plants were mature
and viable for harvest. The teams also located two
camp sites, one day camp, two processing sites, and evidence indicating that
the cultivators were armed. No suspects
were located. Evidence at one site indicates
the cultivators were not camped within the site and only periodically tended
it. Evidence at the other site indicated
that the cultivators abandoned the site several days prior to the eradication.
The marijuana plants were
eradicated by Amador County Sheriff’s Office personnel assisted by personnel
from the California
Department of Justice Region 5 CAMP program, Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office,
El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Land Management and a Jackson Police
Officer. A
conservative value of the eradicated marijuana plants is estimated at over $5
million dollars. The investigation is
continuing pending the processing of physical evidence located at the scenes.
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