Law enforcement serves 90+ warrants in Anza marijuana eradication operation
Police served more than 90 search warrants in the Anza Valley Wednesday targetting illegal marijuana grow operations.
News Channel 3’s Jake Ingrassia was on scene as huge bundles of pot plants were confiscated and destroyed. Police have not released how much contraband was seized.
At least 12 people were arrested in connection to the illegal grows.
The operation was part of a countywide marijuana eradication program, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.
“It’s probably one of the number one money makers in our area, it might even be in the whole southern part of the state,” an Anza man said, who didn’t want to be identified out of fear of the people behind those illegal grows.
“Cartels would be my way of putting it,” he said.
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/RSO/status/1136397236739297280″,”author_name”:”Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/RSO”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;Thank you for your assistance today. &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/FxmuqTKNhd”&#gt;https://t.co/FxmuqTKNhd&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept (@RSO) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/RSO/status/1136397236739297280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;June 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
Police used military helicopters to fly in those huge piles of pot, bringing them to a field behind a high school in Anza. Truckloads of pot were brought to that location too.
“Right now they’re in the process putting them in bins and condensing it,” said Sgt. Albert Martinez with Riverside County Sherrif’s Dept. “From that point it will be destroyed.”
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/RSO/status/1136290233912135680″,”author_name”:”Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/RSO”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;&#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/AnzaValley?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#AnzaValley&#lt;/a&#gt; Heavy police activity throughout the Anza Valley today. There is no threat to public safety. &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/MarijuanaEradication?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#MarijuanaEradication&#lt;/a&#gt; &#lt;br&#gt;&#lt;br&#gt;***MEDIA: additional information will be provided via Twitter throughout the day. We have no additional releasable information at this time. &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/BjmzaQewvT”&#gt;pic.twitter.com/BjmzaQewvT&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept (@RSO) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/RSO/status/1136290233912135680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;June 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
Another major issue for people in the area is that the grows dry up the water table.
“They’re using all the water,” said the Anza man. “Everybody out here is on a well, and they deplete your resources because your well will end up running dry because you run adjacent to these growers on industrial scale.”
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/RSO/status/1136323134112522240″,”author_name”:”Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/RSO”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;&#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/AnzaValley?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#AnzaValley&#lt;/a&#gt; Update #1&#lt;br&#gt;&#lt;br&#gt;Law enforcement deputies and officers continue to investigate illegal marijuana grows in the Anza Valley. Heavy police activity continues. No additional information available. &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/GqV4fcHptt”&#gt;https://t.co/GqV4fcHptt&#lt;/a&#gt; &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/QByQLKtxzB”&#gt;pic.twitter.com/QByQLKtxzB&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept (@RSO) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/RSO/status/1136323134112522240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;June 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
More than 600 law enforcement officers were involved in the operation.
{“url”:”https://twitter.com/CaArmyGuard/status/1136393777881292800″,”author_name”:”CA Army National Guard”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/CaArmyGuard”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;A &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/CalGuard?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;#CalGuard&#lt;/a&#gt; HH-60 Pavehawk supports a multi-agency effort led by the &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/RSO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;@RSO&#lt;/a&#gt; to eradicate thousands of illegal marijuana plants which cause environmental and safety concerns in their county. &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/Ki84aDBA7G”&#gt;https://t.co/Ki84aDBA7G&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– CA Army National Guard (@CaArmyGuard) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/CaArmyGuard/status/1136393777881292800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”&#gt;June 5, 2019&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;n”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}
You can reach Jake on Twitter, Facebook or email him at jake.ingrassia@kesq.com.
