Over 74,000 marijuana plants were confiscated and multiple agencies involved in a weeklong operation focusing on marijuana eradication in Stanislaus County.

The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday morning released the results of the joint marijuana eradication operation which took place between Monday, May 31 and Friday, June 4, 2021. Spearheaded largely by the Sheriff’s Office Community Resource Unit (CRU), which is comprised of a supervising sergeant and 11 sheriff’s deputies, the operation targeted over 60 confirmed outdoor and indoor illicit marijuana grows throughout the entire county.

“Our efforts were the culmination of a longstanding, months-long investigation into those who choose to disregard state, federal and local statutes regarding the cultivation of marijuana cannabis,” the press release stated. “Together, our agency partnered with countless other agencies in order to make the operation run as smoothly as possible. All locations spanning many corners of the county were the subject of search warrants previously approved by local Superior Court judges.”

The sheriff’s department was assisted by Northern and Southern California teams from the Bureau of Cannabis Control, specifically the Cannabis Enforcement Unit, as well as Stanislaus County Public Works, Stanislaus Animal Services, Turlock and Modesto Irrigation Districts, Riverbank, Patterson and Stanislaus County Code Enforcement, Pacific, Gas & Electric, California Department of Fish & Wildlife, S/O Special Investigations, Air Support & SWAT, Fusion Center Crime Analyst/Statistical tracking team, Stanislaus Regional 911 communications center, and Waterford, Patterson, Hughson and Riverbank Police Services.

The final statistical data of the whole operation included the following:

74,088 eradicated marijuana plants, 39,883 of which were fully budded marijuana plants, 34 grows were hauled off entirely, 25 were cut and left in-place, 36,954 were young clones, 1,687.3 pounds of fully processed marijuana plants were recovered, 46 firearms were seized, $172,347 in cash was seized, 83 people were either physically arrested, booked or issued citations for various new law violations, 26 places had their power shut-off by their respective local utility companies, 16 code enforcement referrals were made, and 13 warrants resulted in Child or Adult Protective Services referrals for unsafe living conditions wherein guardians were arrested for endangering their kids.

The total estimated street value of all the eradicated marijuana was nearly $100 million.

Look for more details regarding the arrests and cooperative eradication operation in the June 9 issue.