Marijuana Farm Found Underground : Drugs: The illegal operation, with more than 6,000 plants under cultivation, is described as the largest ever found in the county.

Law enforcement officials have arrested three men and seized more than 6,000 marijuana plants under cultivation in a sophisticated underground bunker in the remote desert north of Lancaster. It was described by authorities Friday as the largest such operation ever uncovered in Los Angeles County.

Sheriff’s deputies and federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents unexpectedly stumbled onto the bunker--the size of two houses and complete with diesel-powered lights and ventilation--after searching a nearby house Thursday afternoon.

“It’s the most incredible thing you’ll ever see in your life,” said Capt. Larry Waldie, commander of the Sheriff’s Narcotics Bureau. “We’ve never seen anything quite as sophisticated as this.”

The concrete bunker had been dug out under a thick concrete ceiling, which from above ground appeared to be a basketball court. The 7,000-square-foot vault was divided into three rooms. The plants were growing wall-to-wall in pots under about 150 generator-powered lamps.

Waldie estimated that the site on Avenue E near 40th Street East had been operating for two years, and sheriff’s deputies said the high desert site apparently represented a major growing and distribution point for marijuana in Southern California. Located about four miles north of Lancaster near the southern border of Edwards Air Force Base, the underground greenhouse produced about 24,000 marijuana plants a year with a street value of $75 million to $150 million, officials estimated.

Waldie estimated that the underground operation cost more than $1 million to establish.

Officials believe the facility was run by the same drug operation responsible for two similar underground growing sites near Bullhead City, Ariz. They were raided by DEA agents Oct. 30 and seven people were arrested.

As part of the probe into the Arizona case, investigators discovered an expensive utility bill for a house in the Antelope Valley.

When deputies went to that house Thursday, they found a surveillance camera monitoring the site, but no money, weapons or large quantities of harvested marijuana. But behind the house, in a back building, they discovered a trapdoor that led them to the underground chamber.

Deputies arrested two caretakers at the desert ranch house without incident. Both were being held Friday at the Lancaster sheriff’s station on $5-million bail each and face arraignment Monday on felony drug cultivation charges. They were identified as Calvin G. James, 38, of Garden Grove, and Ronald L. Podratz, 42, of the town of Alpine in San Diego County.

Another suspect described by investigators as a top figure in both the Lancaster and Arizona operations surrendered Thursday at the Lancaster sheriff’s station. He faces federal charges in Arizona of conspiracy to distribute marijuana, officials said.

Investigators identified the man as Frank E. Gegax, 48, of Lancaster, owner of KMG Construction in Lancaster. DEA agents Thursday served federal search warrants at Gegax’s home and at his business, and said they recovered nearly $50,000 in cash from the business.

A DEA spokesman in Los Angeles said two of Gegax’s relatives, identified as Kathleen Gegax and Michael Gegax, believed to be his wife and brother, were among the seven people arrested in Arizona. One underground location there had about 10,000 plants and the other had about 5,000, officials said.

Sheriff’s deputies said the ranch house, apparently built without proper permits, probably would be demolished.