The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office says its Cannabis Compliance Team eradicated an illegal marijuana grow in the Cebada Canyon area near Lompoc on Monday.
The cultivation site was located in the 3100 block of Avena Road.
According to the sheriff’s office, the operators had just harvested the plants in the past week and already moved the product off the property. However, detectives say they discovered 1,423 younger marijuana plants that were not yet ready for harvest, and those plants were destroyed. Sheriff’s officials estimate the value of the plants at $711,000 if they had been allowed to mature.
Investigators say the cultivation site did not possess the necessary state license to operate legally.
Detectives say they interviewed the owner of the operation and will be forwarding their investigation to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office for the possible filing of criminal charges.
This is the latest in several such eradication operations that the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office has been involved in since the beginning of September.
Previous coverage:
Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Compliance Team seizes more than 1,500 marijuana plants
Detectives destroy estimated $2.7 million worth of marijuana products in Cuyama Valley
Santa Barbara detectives destroy estimated $4.3 million worth of marijuana plants
