28,000 marijuana plants pulled from a half-mile grow in Malibu Creek park
Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies removed about 28,000 marijuana plants from a remote half-mile stretch of Malibu Creek State Park on 27 September 2005, a haul first put at $30 million. No arrests were made at the grow, later placed under federal investigation.
🇺🇸 Malibu Creek State Park, Santa Monica Mountains, California · California, United States
Thirty million dollars worth of marijuana was removed from Malibu Creek State Park on
Tuesday 27 September 2005 by the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department.[1]About 28,000 plants
spread along a half-mile stretch across a ridgeline had been spotted from a helicopter the
previous week, according to Sergeant Ken Davidson.[1]The plants had been growing in a
remote part of the park for four to five months and stood four to six feet tall.[1]
Deputies began hauling the plants out at 8 a.m. on Tuesday and completed the removal the
same day.[1]No arrests were made in connection with the grow, the Sheriff’s Department
said.[1]
Federal investigation
By February 2006 the investigation had passed to federal authorities, Davidson said, with
the Malibu/Lost Hills narcotics division having done the removal work.[2]The follow-up
account put the haul’s worth at $28 million and again described about 28,000 plants across
a half-mile stretch of the park.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
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.
