EPIC task force eradicated 728,458 cannabis plants across California in 2025
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the Eradication and Prevention of Illicit Cannabis (EPIC) program removed 728,458 illegally cultivated plants and made 204 arrests in 605 operations across 34 counties during 2025, with Mendocino and Kern among the hardest-hit counties.
🇺🇸 California (34 counties) · California, United States
On 18 December 2025 Attorney General Rob Bonta said EPIC teams had eradicated 728,458 illegally
cultivated cannabis plants and made 204 arrests during the 2025 season.[1][2]EPIC is a multi-agency
task force led by the Department of Justice that targets unlicensed outdoor and trespass grows tied
to environmental damage, lost tax revenue and labour exploitation.[1]
Operations
The attorney general’s office counted 605 operational sites in 34 counties, 170 weapons recovered,
and infrastructure removed that included dams, water lines and containers of toxic pesticides such
as carbofuran.[1][2]Mendocino County alone accounted for 93 sites and 105,053 plants destroyed,
followed by Kern with 127 sites and 114,341 plants and Riverside with 40 sites and 113,377 plants.[1]Kings, Inyo, Madera, Placer, Santa Barbara and Solano saw reconnaissance only without reported
eradication totals.[1]
Partners
Bonta said EPIC works with the California National Guard Counterdrug Task Force, State Parks, Fish
and Wildlife, the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, DEA and local sheriffs.[1]The
2025 statistics sheet matches the 728,458 plant total and 204 arrests against prior seasons going
back to 2017.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
California Department of Justiceoag.ca.govArchived copyAttorney General Bonta, Together with Local, State, and Federal Law Enforcement Partners, Announces Eradication of Over 728,000 Illegally-Grown Cannabis Plants in 2025
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.
