More than 540,000 marijuana plants removed from 194-acre farm west of Dos Palos
Merced County deputies and federal agents searched a farm at Hutchins Road and Palm Avenue near Dos Palos on 5 November 2018 and removed more than 540,000 marijuana plants from fields the owner said he had planted with hemp. Four people caught raiding the fields over the preceding week were arrested, with two guns recovered, and the sheriff said the case was still under investigation.
🇺🇸 Hutchins Road and Palm Avenue, Dos Palos, Merced County, California · California, United States
Merced County deputies, with federal and state agencies, served a search warrant
on the morning of Monday 5 November 2018 on a farm near Dos Palos.[1]The farm
sits along Hutchins Road and Palm Avenue west of Dos Palos.[1]Federal
prosecutors and the sheriff described the grow as one of the largest law
enforcement had seen in the North Valley, with the sheriff’s office calling it
the largest ever found in the Central Valley.[2]
More than 540,000 cannabis plants were removed from the property.[1]The
plants covered nearly 200 acres of the farm.[1]The property owner had told
investigators he planted 194 acres of hemp in two fields and had about 500,000
plants growing there.[2]The sheriff said the rancher believed he was going to
grow hemp and that the county had warned him not to.[1]
Four people caught raiding the fields during the week of surveillance were taken
into custody, and officers recovered two guns.[1]On 31 October 2018 a deputy
stopped a car leaving the property with 50 pounds of marijuana, and on 1
November 2018 deputies stopped a van carrying 220 plants.[2]All four people
inside the van carrying 220 plants were arrested on state felony charges.[2]After an anonymous tip in August 2018, a sheriff’s sergeant visited the property
and saw what he recognised as live marijuana plants.[2]
The county prohibits outdoor cannabis cultivation and allows six plants grown
indoors.[1]The sheriff said the size of the grow was why his office brought
in the federal government.[1]The sheriff’s office said the case remained
under investigation.[2]
Photos and video
Cannabis plants in the fields of the farm west of Dos Palos during the removal work, published as the KFSN report's lead image. Photo: ABC30 Fresno (KFSN)Photo details
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Source: ABC30 FresnoOne of the KMPH gallery photos of the marijuana grow found in the Hutchins Road and Palm Avenue area of Dos Palos. Photo: Merced County Sheriff's OfficePhoto details
The submitted article gives no date for the search beyond 'Monday morning'; 5 November 2018 is used, the Monday of publication, while KMPH's account begins with a deputy's visit on 24 August 2018.
The plant total is stated as more than 540,000 while the owner told investigators he had about 500,000 plants; 540,000 is used and the 500,000 is an approximation from court documents.
The area is given as nearly 200 acres in the KFSN report and 194 acres in the KMPH account; 78.52 hectares converts the 194-acre figure, and the text keeps the original acres.
The 22.68 kg figure converts 50 pounds of marijuana found in a car stopped near the property on 31 October 2018; no weight was published for the plants removed from the fields and none is estimated.
The four people in custody were arrested in a van carrying 220 plants during the surveillance, not for cultivating the crop; no charges against the owner or anyone else over the cultivation are reported.
The sheriff said Crivelli would not 'purposely grow marijuana', while court documents say he planted the fields as hemp; no plea or court outcome was reported.
No cash value for the crop was published in the two accounts opened.
The KMPH account cites court documents for the August-to-October timeline that the submitted KFSN report does not cover.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in KMPH FOX26 News: The DEA laboratory confirmed on 5 October 2018 that samples from the fields were marijuana, and the University of Mississippi later measured a THC concentration of 2.32 percent, more than seven times the limit for hemp.
Left out activity, as its quotation was not found in KMPH FOX26 News.
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.
