Huge Calaveras County Pot Garden Bust

More than 3,000 marijuana plants were discovered this weekend in the remote Gwen Mine Road area of Calaveras County.

Two men and a boy are in custody after a Department of Fish and Game officer discovered the newly-planted pot garden.

Members of the Calaveras County Sheriffs Marijuana Suppression Team were called in and uncovered at large scale marijuana cultivation operation being conducted by Mexican Nationals.

Arrested at the site of the pot garden were 29 year-old Joaquin Alvarado-Silva of Santa Rosa, 19 year-old Jonathan Medina Gonzalez of Stockton and a 17 year-old hispanic boy. Alvarado-Silva is being held on $105,000 bail.

Calaveras County Sheriffs Marijuana Suppression Team members discovered 3,018 marijuana plants being grown in a remote area where Department of Fish and Game officers detained Gonzalez.

Officers say the pot being grown was in the early stages of preparation. Approximately 1,000 marijuana plants had already been transplanted into the ground with the remainder of the plants still in small garden pots.

Authorities say these plants were waiting replanting later this month.

Authorities say the pot, if it had not been discovered, could have yielded a street value in excess of $3-million.