3 Men Face Prison After Marijuana Seized in Forest

Three San Fernando Valley men face at least 10 years each in federal prison if convicted of running an Angeles National Forest marijuana plantation with a street value of more than $2 million, officials said Sunday.

Rafael Aristigue, 31, of Pacoima; Arnulfo Subia, 43, of Arleta, and Esteban Zarrabia, 36, of Panorama City were arrested Saturday on suspicion of manufacturing and cultivating marijuana with the intent to distribute, said Gail Wright, spokeswoman for the U. S. Forest Service.

The men, who were in federal custody Sunday, had been under surveillance for several months, Wright said.

The 1,000 marijuana plants, measuring three to six feet high, were ready for harvest in the Upper Shake Campground west of Lake Hughes, she said. The estimated street value of the plants was at least $2 million and could have been as high as $3 million, authorities said.

Aristigue and Zarrabia were arrested after they arrived to allegedly work on the plants, while Subia was arrested when he showed up later.

The three were arrested by Forest Service officers assisted by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Mike Alt, a special agent with the Forest Service, said marijuana growing in the forest is not new, nor will it be tolerated.

In a separate discovery on Labor Day weekend, sheriff’s deputies on helicopter patrol found a marijuana farm in a canyon near Lake Casitas in Ventura County. About 6,000 marijuana plants, with an estimated street value of $24 million, were removed and destroyed, officials said.