Special agents with the Department of Justice Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE) and  Mountain and Valley Marijuana Investigation Team (MAVMIT) assisted in an investigation that lead to an 11 year prison sentence for a Contra Costa man.

On October 21, Adolfo Valencia Alvarez, 49, was sentenced for  conspiracy to grow and distribute marijuana.  According to court documents he negotiated with undercover agents to use property in Todd Valley near Auburn to garden and harvest marijuana plants.

Between November 2008 and July 2009, Alvarez conspired with others to grow and distribute marijuana,  negotiated with undercover agents to use the land, recruited others to work in the garden to tend and harvest marijuana plants.    Alvarez purchased the food and supplies the men needed. In July 2009, agents eradicated approximately 10,000 plants from the grow site. One of the workers arrested in the grow had a .22-caliber pistol in his possession.

“Undercover investigations into marijuana grows and distribution can be extremely dangerous,” said Alan Barcelona, president of the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA).  CSLEA is an association of approximately 7,000 law enforcement, public safety and consumer protection professionals who work for the State of California, including DOJ special agents.  “This case began nearly five years ago and they have seen it through from beginning to end.  Nice work.”

The investigation included the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the California Department of Justice  Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement (BNE) and  the Mountain and Valley Marijuana Investigation Team (MAVMIT).