THOUSAND OAKS : 2 Men Held Over Marijuana Growing
More than 80 marijuana plants worth an estimated $160,000 were seized and two men were arrested after authorities discovered a pot plantation on federal park property near the Los Angeles County line, National Park Service authorities said Tuesday.
The men, who are from Southern California, were being held in Ventura County Jail on suspicion of cultivation of marijuana, Ranger Tim Simonds said. Simonds refused to identify the men, saying it would jeopardize a continuing investigation. A sergeant from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, which participated in the investigation, also refused to comment.
Rangers last month discovered the one-acre farm in the west end of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, off Yerba Buena Road and southwest of Thousand Oaks, National Park Service spokeswoman Jean Bray said.
They left the farm, which was watered by an elaborate drip-irrigation system, intact while they conducted surveillance of the area, Bray said.
Four rangers and three deputies from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department were on hand when two men arrived to tend the garden at 10:20 p.m. Monday, Simonds said. The men were arrested and 84 plants were confiscated as evidence, he said.
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