Over 20,000 marijuana plants eradicated in Coconino National Forest
Federal and Arizona task-force officers eradicated more than 20,000 marijuana plants in the Coconino National Forest north of Strawberry in mid-August 2005, one of three linked grows in the area since July; four Mexican nationals were charged after the takedown.
🇺🇸 Coconino National Forest north of Strawberry, Arizona · Arizona, United States
The Drug Enforcement Administration said federal, state and local authorities were eradicating more
than 20,000 marijuana plants in the Coconino National Forest in mid-August 2005, in the latest of
three separate growing operations found in the same area since 24 July.[1]The agency valued that
cultivation at over $30 million and called it one of the largest of its kind found in Arizona.[1]
Takedown north of Strawberry
Associated Press reporting on 16 August described a mile-long farm in a remote ravine on the
southern part of the forest north of Strawberry, after a Gila County narcotics task force had
watched the site since July.[2]Officers confronted heavily armed men in the garden on Monday
15 August and arrested four people, according to court paperwork summarised by the wire service.[2]The DEA named them as Jesus Castillo-Malendrez, Gerardo Manzo-Pulido, Oscar Nunez-Medina and David
Valencia-Gonzalez, all from Mexico, and said federal conspiracy charges were filed on 16 August.[1]
Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. Landrum said international traffickers had exploited public land
to cultivate thousands of plants.[1]The Forest Service’s Robin Poague warned that large-scale
cultivation on national forests posed hazards to visitors and environmental damage.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Associated Press reporting on 16 August quoted investigators who said the ravine farm could hold more than 100,000 plants, while the DEA release for this cultivation put the count at over 20,000 for the latest of three operations since 24 July 2005.
The DEA release dated 18 August said eradication was still under way when it was issued; the opened accounts do not say when the last plant was removed.
Court paperwork cited by the Associated Press named the four detained men, but the opened sources give no sentences for this raid.
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.
