Ten charged over San Diego public-lands grow ring; six arrested
Federal prosecutors unsealed conspiracy charges against ten alleged managers of a marijuana trafficking ring growing on public lands around San Diego. Six were arrested on 13 November 2012 after a two-year probe that seized over 45,000 plants, 300 lb of processed marijuana, guns, cash and vehicles.
🇺🇸 Julian and public lands across San Diego and Riverside counties · United States
Ten alleged mid- to high-level managers of a marijuana trafficking ring that grew cannabis on public lands were charged with conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, federal prosecutors in San Diego announced on 14 November 2012.[1]A task force of local, state and federal officers arrested six of the ten the day before and searched 15 locations in El Cajon, Lakeside and Valley Center in San Diego County and Temecula, Perris and Hemet in Riverside County.[1]Officers seized 12 firearms, $237,000 in cash, 13 vehicles and 300 pounds of processed marijuana with a street value above $300,000.[1]
A two-year probe
The case began in the summer of 2010, when drug agents on aerial surveillance spotted a remote marijuana farm in Julian, cut it down with machetes and arrested four crop tenders.[1]Cell phones left at the camp led investigators to wiretap fourteen phone lines for almost six months.[1]Over the two-year probe, officers raided eight farms in Julian, Valley Center, Pala, Palomar Mountain, the Cleveland National Forest and Riverside, seizing more than 45,000 marijuana plants.[1]Officials said the operation had put out of business a trafficking organization that had taken over forests and parks and damaged them with pesticides so toxic they are banned in the United States.[1]
Case data
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