Record 5,249,881 cannabis plants seized across California in 2008
Federal and state agencies seized a record 5,249,881 cannabis plants across California in the 2008 season, almost 70 percent from public land; CAMP alone took 2.9 million plants in its second straight record year, with 143 arrests and 142 weapons seized.
On 19 November 2008 federal and state officials announced record seizures of 5,249,881 cannabis plants from public and private land across California during the CAMP season and Operation Green Acres 2.[1][2]Of that total, 3,641,328 plants, almost 70 percent, came from state and federal public land.[1]CAMP alone eradicated 2.9 million plants in its second straight record year, two million of them on public land.[1]The eradication season ran from July through October.[1]
Raids, arrests and counties
Officers arrested 143 people and seized 142 weapons during the 2008 season, up from 53 arrests and 41 weapons in 2007.[1][2]Lake County had the highest county total with 499,508 plants, followed by Tulare with 395,489 and Shasta with 394,375.[1][2]Mendocino County contributed 231,802 plants and Humboldt County 145,762.[1][2]
Operation Green Acres 2, a four-week statewide operation ending in August, seized almost 1.4 million plants that the agency valued at 4.2 billion dollars.[1][2]The same operation brought 63 arrests and 102 seized weapons.[1]A separate summer effort, Operation LOCUST around Sequoia National Park, took about 524,000 plants and led to 15 indictments.[1]Officials blamed large cartel-run grows for environmental damage on public land, where caretakers often stood guard heavily armed.[1][2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
California's Unified Cannabis Enforcement Task Force seized or destroyed 55,308 pounds of illicit cannabis and eradicated 108,226 plants between July and September 2026, Governor Gavin Newsom's office said. The quarter's operations across nine counties led to 14 arrests, nine firearms and $29,215 in cash, and brought the state's nine-month total to more than $230 million in cannabis.
Arrested 14Plants destroyed 108,226Cannabis 25.0873 t
Humboldt County sheriff's deputies eradicated about 3,102 cannabis plants and destroyed about 36 pounds of processed cannabis at two unlicensed grows near Alderpoint and Garberville on 5 and 6 October 2026. No arrests were made and the cases were sent to the District Attorney for review.
On 25 September 2026 New Mexico's Regulation and Licensing Department Enforcement Bureau and the Organized Crime Commission raided 102 Howell Road in Estancia, Torrance County, seizing and destroying about 6,300 mature cannabis plants in 21 greenhouses weighing an estimated 21,000 pounds. The case remains open for prosecution.
On 16 September 2026 U.S. Forest Service officers, Glenn County’s Major Crimes Task Force and a Forest Service helicopter team eradicated about 700 cannabis plants from an illegal grow in remote Mendocino National Forest. No arrests were reported.
