The Special Investigations Unit (SIU) of the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department (SCSD) didn’t get their man (or woman), but did find a hefty haul of weed with an estimated street value of US$7 million ($8.7 million) last week.
The SIU detectives discovered the 7,000-plus pounds (3,175 kilograms) of processed cannabis after executing a search warrant on a property just outside of Keyes, Calif. at about 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 21, according to an SCSD post on Facebook.
The accompanying video shows a huge number of containers now holding the boxed-up cannabis.
“Our department is committed to eliminating what has become a lucrative black market for illicit marijuana cultivation,” notes an SCSD statement. “The likelihood of violence, environmental contamination, public health hazards and other neighbourhood dangers are significant,” it adds.
Garbage bags full of cannabis found at California property. / PHOTO BY STANISLAUS COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT
Although “the residence had been subject to an ongoing and active illegal narcotics operation,” no physical arrests have yet been made, according to a video of the crime scene released by police.
Most people commenting on the police post fell into two groups: those offering congratulations to the SCSD for a job well done and those asking why no arrests have been made.
Just some of the boxes that now contain a portion of the thousands of pounds of seized cannabis. / PHOTO BY STANISLAUS COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT
Given the amount of cannabis, though, one poster had this suggestion. “I don’t think it was grown here, I bet when all the fires started in the mountains the growers had to cut the plants, and they just made their way down here to get packaged up!!”
Both recreational and medicinal cannabis is legal in California, including growing as many as six plants for personal use.
According to the Law Offices of Jerry Nicholson, possessing cannabis with intent to sell, and without a licence, is a felony. This applies if, among other things, the “defendant has a previous conviction for a violent felony” or “has at least two prior convictions for misdemeanour marijuana possession with the intent to sell,” the information adds.