10 Marijuana Grow Sites Raided in Los Padres National Forest

Law enforcement officials pulled off a major marijuana eradication operation in Santa Barbara County this past week. Between Thursday and Tuesday, they raided ten cultivation sites in Los Padres National Forest around Cuyama Valley and near Figueroa Mountain.

The first three sites, raided July 18, were found off Old Sierra Madre Road in Cuyama Valley. Over 2,500 marijuana plants were eradicated. The following day, another site off Highway 33 near the towns of Cuyama and Ventucopa yielded 5,700 plants. A Ventucopa man was arrested.

On July 22 and 23, six more sites raided near in the mountains above Davy Brown Campground and Sunset Valley Road. 19,000 marijuana plants were eradicated and a Los Angeles man was arrested.

Officials estimate the eradicated plants would yield about $85 million on the street. The team was put together under the California Department of Justice's "Campaign Against Marijuana Planting," or CAMP, program. Agencies on this week's raid included the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office, U.S. Forest, Service. California National Guard, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Also:
- Video: Go Behind the Scenes in a Marijuana Site Bust
- How to Identify a Marijuana Cultivation Site, and What to Do
- The Environmental Effects of Marijuana Sites in Our Forests

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