Pot Plant Bust In Tuolumne County

Moccasin, CA — Drug enforcement officials busted a large marijuana plant operation in Tuolumne County this morning.  The Tuolumne County Narcotics Team and the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Swat Team joined forces to eradicate the nearly 31,000 pot plants.  The grow operation was found on Bureau of Land Management property on two separate sites off Highway 49 in the Moccasin area.

Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Scott Johnson says, “No suspects were located in the grow operation. There was some evidence that they uncovered at the scene and the pattern of grow indicates that it is another Mexican drug cartel grow.”

Johnson says the marijuana plants were small, just 6 to 12 inches tall, which indicates they had been planted recently.  The grow was spotted by law enforcement doing a helicopter fly over. Johnson says those flights pick up in the spring in hopes of catching pot operations like this.

All the plants were destroyed.  Johnson says the marijuana plants have a street value of nearly $10 million dollars.