Largest southern Utah grow seized near Pine Valley, four arrested
Washington County drug agents seized the largest cannabis grow in southern Utah's history on 8 October 2004, a Pine Valley site in the Dixie National Forest holding more than 1,500 plants plus hundreds more drying and 50 pounds processed. Three Mexican nationals were arrested at the site and a fourth near St. George the next day.
🇺🇸 Near Pine Valley, Dixie National Forest, Washington County · Utah, United States
On 8 October 2004, Washington County Drug Task Force agents seized the
largest cannabis grow site in southern Utah’s history near the Pine Valley
district of the Dixie National Forest.[1]Three Mexican nationals were
arrested at the site and a fourth was arrested the next day near St. George.[1]A hiker had found the cultivation site along a stream in a secluded
area and reported it to officers.[2]
The site held more than 1,500 cannabis plants.[1][2]Agents subsequently
seized 814 plants growing among scrub oak trees, 764 plants in the drying
stage, and 50 pounds (about 22.7 kg) of processed marijuana.[1][2]The
growers watered the site with a gravity-flow irrigation system running
through plastic tubing from a nearby stream.[1][2]Investigators believed
other accomplices had left the area for Southern California or Mexico.[1][2]
A 2005 Forest Service account said a citizen reported a large grow the
previous year on the Pine Valley ranger district just north of St. George,
and officers confiscated 1,700 plants and charged four people with
cultivating them.[3]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
The task force gave an initial count of more than 1,500 plants, then reported 814 growing and 764 drying plants with 50 pounds processed, and the figures here use the initial site count with the processed weight.
A 2005 Forest Service account put the same Pine Valley seizure at 1,700 confiscated plants, against the task-force breakdown used here.
The reports do not name the four arrested men or give any court outcome.
Investigators believed other accomplices had left the area for Southern California or Mexico, but no further arrests were reported.
No photograph of the grow with a recoverable direct image address was found in the opened sources.
CHP's warrant service team searched a home in the 400 block of Bear Canyon Road northwest of Garberville on 9 November 2026 as part of a multi-agency narcotics investigation involving the DEA, HSI and FBI. The CHP said it did not lead the probe and would not confirm the target, the material officers shovelled, or any arrests.
North Port police arrested Nicholas Eddy, 29, and Jessica Trach, 28, after their Special Investigations Unit searched a home on Narcissus Terrace and found marijuana packaged for sale along with cocaine, suspected LSD, steroids and pills. Both were accused of drug possession for sale, running a drug house and possessing drug paraphernalia.
Lexington town police and state and federal partners searched five vape and hemp shops on 5 November 2026 in an undercover investigation into sales of illicit narcotics and drug paraphernalia. A shop owner says officers emptied cases, seized her phone and more than $3,300 in cash, and she plans to sue; no arrests were reported.
Four agencies served simultaneous search warrants at two Quincy addresses on 5 November 2026 in a drug-trafficking investigation, and police announced probable cause to arrest two men, one of them on a cannabis sale allegation. No drug quantities were disclosed and police did not confirm either man was in custody.
