GARBERVILLE - On October 21, 2020, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Marijuana Enforcement Team (MET), the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Cal-Cannabis and Humboldt County Code Enforcement served a search warrant to investigate illegal cannabis cultivation in the Little Buck Mountain Road area east of Garberville.
Three parcels were investigated during the service of the warrant. The search warrant was issued for these parcels based upon a complaint from CDFA Cal-Cannabis. While the parcels did possess the required county permit, they did not possess a state license to cultivate cannabis commercially. Both permit and license are required prior to commercial cannabis cultivation.
During the service of the warrant, law enforcement officers:
- eradicated approximately 11,000 growing cannabis plants
- seized and destroyed more than 4,700 pounds of processed cannabis
- seized and destroyed 1,100 pounds of cannabis shake
- seized two fully automatic firearms and one short barreled rifle
“Serving search warrants such as this can be a dangerous situation for law enforcement officers as they don’t know who they will encounter and what state of mind those they encounter will be in. In addition, there are often firearms on the premises,” said California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) President Alan Barcelona. “The cannabis permit and licensing laws are clear and are being enforced to protect licensed businesses as well as consumers who buy and use these products.”
Assisting agencies found the following violations:
- Four water diversion violations (up to $8,000 fine per day, per violation)
- Four water pollution violations (up to $20,000 fine per day, per violation)
Additional violations with civil fines are expected to be filed by the assisting agencies.
No arrests were made during the service of the warrant. The case will be forwarded to the DA’s Office for review.
