Marijuana Enforcement Team is kicking ass and taking names

[ripcord]

https://4newsplus.com/nearly-30000-marijuana-plants-seized-from-31-locations-in-third-week-of-operation-hammer-strike/?fbclid=IwAR0gNhMWVPlxKjNja9E3B1z5qneEG4zOWTGHcVePo9RneGVHIq0rYv-Z5rk

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Marijuana Enforcement Teams and deputies from across the county have once again been busy sweeping the county of illegal marijuana cultivations in week three of “Operation Hammer Strike.”

This week, between September 11, 2021, and September 18, 2021, warrants were served at thirty-one locations across the desert regions of the county and have now extended down the hill with locations in Chino Hills, Fontana, and Bloomington. As far as other locations in the desert, it seems to be the usual suspects, Lucerne Valley, Twentynine Palms, Wonder Valley, Pinon Hills, Phelan, Newberry Springs, and Hesperia. According to the Sheriff officials, the search warrant locations primarily come from complaints filed by residents who live in the communities where marijuana cultivations are rampant.

Thirty-one suspects were arrested, including fifteen from the Phelan and Pinon Hills locations. Many of the suspects lived in the community where they were arrested; however, thirteen were residents of other areas, including Pomona, Monterrey Park, Menifee, Riverside, San Bernardino, Perris, Hemet, Sunland, Glendale, Laos, Stockton, and Mexico. No suspects were reported arrested at fourteen of the 31 locations; however, it is unknown if there were any suspects at those locations when the warrants were served. The illegal grows are run by cartels from Mexico and China, according to sheriff’s investigators. Many arrested are victims of human trafficking, often living in deplorable conditions.

Sheriff’s seized nearly 30,000 marijuana plants and almost 5,800 pounds of processed marijuana from a total of 138 greenhouses which averages out to nearly 220 plants per greenhouse. A marijuana plant grown in a greenhouse can yield about a 1/2 pound of processed marijuana, if not more. The 30,000 plants seized could have yielded 15,000 pounds of processed marijuana, at a value of $15 million, about $1000 per pound in seized plants alone. The 5,800 pounds of processed marijuana that were also seized has a value of almost $6 million, bringing the overall value of this week’s eradication efforts to nearly $21 million. However, the cost per pound can rise to almost triple that amount depending on where the product is being delivered, on the east coast, for example. Additionally, the sheriff’s seized four handguns and $19,000 in cash.

In many cases, the water needed to grow these plants is stolen from local water districts, many of which have limited water resources. The water required to grow the 30,000 plants would be about 14.5 million gallons of water, or 480 gallons per plant. That equates to almost 20,000 units of water. The average household, according to the EPA, uses 150 units per year or about 113,000 gallons.

It finally feels like county authorities are finally starting to listen to the locals in these communities and taking out the trash.

[msongs]

1. this is all from massively overpriced "legal" pot - market forces at work nt

[marble falls]

2. Curiously enough, those legal farms make no ecological sense, either.

[multigraincracker]

3. How many units of water go

to legal grows. How many for horse hay?

[ripcord]

4. There are no legal grows here

There are no legal grows in San Bernardino county because it is almost entirely desert, the number of alfalfa farms has been drastically reduced because of the lack of water.