Detectives from the Illegal Marijuana Enforcement Team, drawn from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and the Medford Police Department, served a search warrant on a grow site in the 4100 block of Corey Road in Central Point on Thursday 14 July 2022.[1] An armed suspect tried to flee but was found hiding at a property in the 3400 block of Randall Avenue and arrested.[1] Police said he carried a pistol and booked him into the Jackson County Jail on charges of interfering with a peace officer, resisting arrest, second-degree criminal trespass, unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful carrying or concealing of a firearm and unlawful manufacture of marijuana.[2] Eight other people found on the property were detained, interviewed and released without charge.[2]

Investigators said the property held about 2,748 illegal cannabis plants in seven greenhouses, about 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms) of processed black-market marijuana and seven firearms.[1] The cannabis was seized and destroyed on the site.[3] The sheriff’s office said one rifle seized was a “ghost gun” with no serial number, and one handgun had been reported stolen in Florida.[1]

The case followed a months-long investigation of a black-market growing operation that found no licence for any cannabis growing, handling or processing at the location.[1] The sheriff’s office records the case as JCSO Case 22-4007, and the team said it was focusing on the black-market marijuana trade in the Rogue Valley.[4] Jackson County Code Enforcement also responded and issued citations totalling $18,000 for unapproved marijuana production, unapproved greenhouses, solid waste and riparian corridor destruction.[1]