3,700 Marijuana Plants Seized Near Picnic Area

Authorities on Tuesday uprooted 3,700 marijuana plants near a picnic area.

Officials of the U.S. Forest Service and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department seized the plants after the five-acre plot was spotted from the air, said Forest Service spokeswoman Randi Jorgensen.

It was the first marijuana eradication in the Angeles National Forest this year. No arrests were made.

Jorgensen said the marijuana was veiled under a canopy of taller vegetation on steep terrain within half a mile of a picnic area called the Pines.

Officials estimated that the marijuana would sell for $11,000 on the street. It appeared that the plot was 2 to 3 years old, Jorgensen said.

“The brush was so thick and the terrain is so steep, it’s not a place where hikers would usually go,” she said.

The area where the plants were discovered was strewn with trash and vegetation had been trampled, Jorgensen said.