Monday, 03 September 2007 23:59

Sheriff’s Department Announces Marijuana Grow Bust In Pioneer

slide2Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties have seen a record year for marijuana eradication efforts and now Amador County law enforcement is taking their fair share as well. On Thursday August 30, 2007 the Amador County Sheriff’s Office dismantled two large scale, outdoor commercial marijuana cultivation operations largely located on public land in the Pioneer area. 
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 slide17 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.