$62 million pot bust in Glenn County

The Glenn County Sheriff's Marijuana Eradication Team gave a big downer to pot smokers around the North State.

The team took down a garden with 15,521 plants with an estimated street value of $62 million, Glenn County Sheriff Larry Jones said in a statement.

The bust, in coordination with the National Forest Service, was in a particularly rugged area of the Mendocino National Forest, south of County Road 308, south of Elk Creek.

"The planting area was being watered by an elaborate web of drip lines being fed from four different springs," Jones reported.

"Two camps with three separate sleeping areas seemed to have been hastily abandoned."

In addition to the plants, 2 pounds of processed marijuana and 5 pounds of pot being dried were seized by deputies.

"There were indications growers had been successful in getting out some of their illegal agricultural commodity (and) they were preparing to plant again in an effort to gain a second crop," Jones reported.

Several 500-foot rolls of new black plastic, irrigation tubing, chemical fertilizer and growth mix was seized. No weapons were found.

Jones said because public lands are popular for illegal marijuana operations, he said hunters preparing and scouting for the Aug. 15 opening of archery deer season should take extra care.

He also asks members of the public who see strangers in the south Elk Creek area to call, 934-6431. Jones urged residents to remove keys from their vehicles and to lock their cars as well as their homes and other buildings.