Merced County raids destroy 71,000 marijuana plants and seize 12,000 lb of product
The Merced County Sheriff’s Office said deputies serving search warrants at illegal marijuana grows destroyed about 71,000 plants over several months, and seized about 12,000 pounds of finished marijuana, 29 firearms and an undisclosed amount of cash. Sheriff Vern Warnke said all outdoor marijuana cultivation in the county is illegal.
🇺🇸 Merced County, California · California, United States
Deputies with the Merced County Sheriff’s Office developed information about
several marijuana cultivation sites across the county and obtained search
warrants for them.[1]The warrants resulted in the eradication of about 71,000
marijuana plants.[1]Deputies also seized about 12,000 pounds of finished
marijuana, 29 firearms and an undisclosed amount of cash.[1]
Sheriff Vern Warnke said all outdoor marijuana grows are illegal in the county
and would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.[1]He said the
sheriff’s office was enforcing cultivation laws the county put in place in 2018,
which allow only six plants grown indoors per residence.[1]
The announcements came as apparent arrest orders that the agents had executed
against the cannabis crops destroyed thousands of plants and led to the seizure
of arms, processed drugs and an unspecified amount of cash.[2]Univision
reported the eradication of 71,000 marijuana plants in the county over recent
months, with 12,000 pounds of processed cannabis and 29 firearms seized.[3]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Plants destroyed
71,000
Cannabis
5.44311 t
Agency
Merced County Sheriff's Office
Agency type
Police
Cannabis
Herbal cannabis (5.44311 t); Living plants (71,000 plants)
Activity
Cultivation
Setting
Field
Grown
Outdoor
Case stage
Under investigation
Region
California
Date
Publication date
Sources
Sierra Sun Timesgoldrushcam.comMerced, California Sheriff’s Bust Several Illegal Marijuana Grows with 71,000 Plants Destroyed, 12,000 Pounds of Product, and 29 Firearms Seized
The sources give no day for the raids; they describe warrants served 'over the last few months', so 17 August 2021, the date of the sheriff's statement and of publication, stands in for the incident date.
About 71,000 plants and about 12,000 pounds are approximate figures announced as a total for several cultivation sites; no breakdown by site, area in hectares or number of parcels was published.
The sources report no arrests, charges or prosecutions arising from the warrants, and say an undisclosed amount of cash was seized without a figure.
The reported product weight is described as finished or processed marijuana; the county ordinance permits only indoor cultivation of six plants, which explains why outdoor grows were treated as illegal.
The Univision gallery caption refers to 'órdenes de arresto' (arrest warrants) while its text and the sheriff's statement describe search warrants; the text's search warrants are used.
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.
