Sonoma shuts down record 63,241-plant illegal grow near Santa Rosa
Sonoma County inspectors found 63,241 unpermitted cannabis plants on five properties south of Santa Rosa on 28 August 2019, the largest such operation in county history. Most plants were on two sites in tiger salamander habitat, and the county had abated about 161,000 plants that year.
🇺🇸 South Santa Rosa, Sonoma County · California, United States
Inspectors with Sonoma County’s Permit and Resource Management Department found unpermitted commercial cannabis cultivation on five properties south of Santa Rosa on 28 August 2019.[1][2]The county called it the largest non-permitted commercial cannabis cultivation ever found there, with 63,241 plants in total.[1][2]
Most of the plants were on two properties, one holding 26,650 plants on 2.5 acres and the other 36,685 plants on 3.3 acres, department spokeswoman Maggie Fleming said.[1]Some plants were interspersed with corn, and both properties sit in endangered California tiger salamander habitat.[1]The previous largest illegal cultivation shut down in the county had held 13,000 plants.[1]
A year of complaints
County inspectors had responded to 195 complaints of unpermitted cannabis activity since January, abating about 161,000 plants before this find.[1]Trade press noted the county framed the five-property bust as its record illegal grow operation.[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.
