Detectives with the Illegal Marijuana Enforcement Team, a multi-agency task force in southern Oregon, served a search warrant on Tuesday, 16 June 2026 at a cannabis grow in the 1000 block of Old Stage Road in rural Central Point, Jackson County.[1] The team arrested one suspect in connection with the property, 35-year-old Jorge Alexander Ruiz of Central Point.[1] Ruiz was charged with three felony counts of unlawful production, manufacture and possession of a marijuana item.[2] Ruiz was not listed in Jackson County Jail records on the Friday after the raid.[2]

Detectives seized approximately 25,000 marijuana plants hidden among pear trees in the orchard and 16,000 pounds (about 7,257 kilograms) of usable cannabis.[1] They also seized 1,470 plants found in five hoop-style greenhouses on the property, bringing the plant total to about 26,470.[3]

The sheriff’s office said the farm had no licence for any cannabis growing, handling or processing.[1] Investigators said the farm had applied for an Oregon Department of Agriculture licence to grow hemp while hiding cannabis starter plants in the pear orchard.[3]

The Illegal Marijuana Enforcement Team was assisted by the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Basin Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team and Oregon State Police.[3] The team, funded by a grant from the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, includes personnel from the sheriff’s office, Oregon State Police and the Jackson County District Attorney’s Office, and focuses on the black-market marijuana trade in the Rogue Valley.[1] Medford Alert reported that the investigation was continuing and that additional charges had not been ruled out.[4]