91,000-plant ravine grow raided in Wallowa County, six arrested
A hunters' tip led a multi-agency team to a mile-long terraced grow on national forest land in Wallowa County, Oregon's largest outdoor operation on record. Officers eradicated more than 91,000 plants over two days and arrested six men.
🇺🇸 U.S. Forest Service land, northern Wallowa County · Oregon, United States
A tip from bear hunters led police to a marijuana growing operation stretching about a mile along a remote ravine on public land in northern Wallowa County.[1]On 15 June 2011 a multi-agency team backed by the Oregon State Police SWAT unit and Oregon Army National Guard helicopters served a search warrant on the U.S. Forest Service site.[2]
Officers eradicated more than 91,000 plants, from starters to ten-inch plants, over a two-day period, and arrested six men held in the Union County Jail on charges of unlawful manufacture and possession of marijuana.[1][2]Miles of plastic irrigation tubing lined the terraced ravine, and officers found weapons, food and supply camps built to support growers for weeks.[1]State police called it the largest outdoor marijuana operation ever found in Oregon; the exact location was withheld while the investigation continued, with wildlife staff to survey the environmental damage and rehabilitation needs.[1][2]
The six arrested
Police named the six as Arturo B. Barrera, 26, Federico R. Carrasco, 24, Christian R. Gonzalez, 28, Fredy F. Montes, 32, Jesus A. Sanchez, 21, and Audel C. Soto, 29.[1]
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.
