Deputies Torch Yet Another Large Cache of Marijuana

A team of Ventura County narcotics officers sent some drug dealer’s dreams of big profits up in smoke on Monday, hacking down and then burning an estimated $12 million worth of top-grade marijuana found growing north of Ojai.

But investigators have not arrested those responsible for cultivating the 3,035 marijuana plants that had been growing among the scrub oak and pine trees in a rugged section of Los Padres National Forest near Wheeler Gorge campground.

The plants were cut down and flown by helicopter to a nearby clearing, where they were burned. Recovered along with the marijuana was physical evidence, including irrigation equipment, fertilizer and makeshift shelters.

Sheriff’s Department investigators did detain nine men and a juvenile Saturday who were spotted in the area of the illegal crop, but the group was released after a few hours.

“We really just need to do more investigation work to determine if there’s any connection,” said Capt. Craig Husbands, who heads the narcotics unit for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

All those detained, residents of the Los Angeles area, were carrying rifles and were dressed in camouflage clothing, Husbands said.

“They said they were hunting,” he said. “They all had licenses.”

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Sheriff’s deputies were tipped to the location of the pot farm two weeks ago on the opening day of deer season, when a hunter was confronted by an armed juvenile. The hunter was told, “You don’t want to go any farther,” Husbands said.

The hunter, whom authorities declined to identify, could see the marijuana plants behind the youth.

“He waited for a few days before he told us,” Husbands said. “He was concerned for his own safety. Frankly, he was afraid.”

This is the fourth large marijuana patch found in the rugged terrain of northern Ventura County in the past five weeks and the second in two weeks. On Aug. 12, deputies uprooted 5,500 plants found deep inside Matilija Canyon. Monday’s haul brings the total number of plants destroyed since July 26 to roughly 19,000.

Authorities have said the pot farms that were removed since last month were linked to Mexican cocaine and heroin cartels. Investigators still don’t know if the plantation destroyed Monday was related to those earlier seizures.

“That’s still under investigation,” said Husbands. “There are plenty of similarities, but we have to look at the physical evidence.”

The enforcement team, which began working at dawn Monday to uproot and destroy the marijuana, consisted of nearly 25 drug agents, including sheriff’s deputies, members of the U.S. Forest Service and officers from the Oxnard and Ventura police departments.

Many of the plants were over 14 feet tall, according to Husbands, and could produce more than a pound of high-grade marijuana. The Sheriff’s Department estimates that a pound of high-grade pot sells for about $4,000 on the street.