North County
Three brothers were arrested Tuesday after authorities seized 3,300 marijuana plants about 10 miles north of Fallbrook, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said.
Maximo Ugalde Uribe, 31, and his brothers Victor, 29, and Jose Dolores, 22, all Mexican nationals, were arrested and held on suspicion of cultivating and possessing marijuana for sale. The three were taken into custody after police raided the avocado farm where they worked. The brothers were being held at County Jail at Vista. Bail for each has been set at $2,000, Lt. Pat Kernis said.
Sheriff’s deputies are searching for a fourth man, whose identity was being withheld, Kernis said.
A sheriff’s helicopter spotted the plants, which were as tall as 13 feet, in a remote area used mainly for growing citrus and avocado crops, Kernis said. Officials estimated the street value of the plants--a potent variety called sinsemilla--at $27 million.
Five to 10 pounds of dried and processed marijuana and a semiautomatic pistol were discovered in a storage area where the workers lived.
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