Record Breaking Week For Marijuana Eradication
Sonora, CA — 134,189 marijuana plants were eradicated this week in Tuolumne County, which topped last summer’s overall total of around 107,000.
The final eradication was carried out Friday morning on private property in the Belleview area.
“The major difference with this last one is that it is very close to a residential area and homes,” says Sgt. Craig Davis of the Tuolumne Narcotics Team. “It is probably within 800 meters of a residential area, while most of them are out on Forest Service land.”
Evidence on scene indicates that it was the work of a Mexican Drug Trafficking Organization. Davis says, “There were a number of items that lead us to believe this including quite a few books written in Spanish.”
Officials say it is likely that the property owner had no knowledge of the illegal activity.
Each plant has an estimated street value of $2,000. Today’s eradication was carried out by T.N.T., the State of California’s Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (C.A.M.P.), and officials with the Department of Fish and Game.
Written bjhansen@mlode.com.
