Authorities find 28,000 pot plants in Cuyama Valley

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department announced Wednesday it had discovered and eradicated marijuana plants worth $85 million in the Cuyama Valley near Figueroa Mountain. The Sheriff’s Department worked with personnel from the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting, U.S. Forest Service, California National Guard, state Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Santa Barbara Regional Narcotics Enforcement Team to locate and eradicate the plantings. The operations were conducted July 18 and July 23. Ten separate locations were discovered through tips from area residents and aerial observations by law enforcement. More than 28,000 plants were discovered, according to the Sheriff’s Department. The operation also led to the arrests of 46-year-old Jose Humberto Rivera, of Ventucopa, and 34-year-old Jose Garcia-Armas, of Los Angeles. Both were charged with marijuana cultivation...more

If any type of productivity is found on federal lands, they will stomp it out.