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Nearly 18,400 marijuana plants were seized this week on the Santa Barbara County side of the Los Padres National Forest, authorities said Wednesday.
Working with law enforcement agencies including the U.S. Forest Service and the Department of Justice’s Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department deputies seized 9,652 pot plants in the San Antonio Canyon Creek area and 8,726 plants in the Romero Canyon Area above Montecito, officials said. No arrests were made.
Authorities also hauled out about 1,000 pounds of fertilizers, chemicals and trash left by the growers, officials said.
The plants had an estimated street value of more than $36.7 million, according to the sheriff’s statement.
Authorities say large-scale, illegal pot gardens are an increasingly widespread problem on public lands in California and are often linked to drug cartels. The Brea fire, which burned 90,000 acres in north Santa Barbara County in 2009, was blamed on a cooking fire at one illegal pot farm, officials said.
Sheriff’s officials warned that pot farmers are usually armed and their gardens are sometimes booby-trapped. People should avoid taking action on their own and instead call 681-4175, authorities said.
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