Sheriff’s deputies arrested one person after serving a search warrant and allegedly discovering an illegal marijuana grow operation at a Lake Elsinore home, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said Friday.

Deputies received a report Thursday of possible marijuana cultivation occurring at a home Desert Rose Drive, and were told there were possible marijuana remnants found in a dirt field near the home, according to Riverside County Sheriff’s Sgt. Glenn Warrington.

Later that day, the Sheriff’s Department served a search warrant at the alleged site of the grow operation, and according to Warrington, found the home had been “transformed using common building materials into an illegal marijuana cultivation site.”

When deputies arrived Justin Jun Shen, a 31 year-old resident of Lake Elsinore, fled the home and was immediately taken into custody in a nearby field, Warrington said.

Deputies allegedly found around 1,500 marijuana plants “in various stages of growth” inside the home, along with illegal alterations to the home’s electrical system.

According to Warrington, Southern California Edison responded to the residence and turned the power off due to illegal wiring, and code enforcement officials determined the residence was uninhabitable. 

According to jail records, Shen remained in custody Friday morning at the Cois M. Byrd Detention Center in French Valley. He was being held in lieu of $5,000 bail on suspicion of cultivating marijuana illegally, a misdemeanor.

Will Fritz can be reached by email at wfritz@reedermedia.com.