SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Over 100,000 plants and upwards of $10,000,000 in cash were seized by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday. Law enforcement is calling it the bust of one of the "largest illegal grow operations in the state."
The sheriff's office released a Facebook post that the bust was part of a large operation where over a dozen of search warrants were conducted throughout the East Bay.
Law enforcement has seized 75,260 pounds of marijuana plants from this illegal grow operation so far. They also recovered 12,000 pounds of the finished product.
KGO, an ABC affiliate in the Bay Area, reports at least seven people have been arrested. There were so many cannabis plants inside one San Leandro Warehouse, deputies had to cut them down with a chainsaw, according to KGO's reporting.
In a video posted to the sheriff's office's Facebook, you can see someone using a chainsaw to cut some of the plants.
According to the sheriff's office post, aside from millions in cash seized, law enforcement also took control of millions of dollars in infrastructure, equipment, lighting, generators and supplies used to facilitate the illegal grows.
"They're basically circumventing the legalized system to be involved in the cannabis industry, and they're doing that strictly for profit," said Sgt. Ray Kelly with the Alameda County Sheriffs Department to KGO.
Law enforcement says it will take a few days to process and go through all the evidence. As for the marijuana seized, sheriff's officials said on Twitter that it will be taken to an incinerator and destroyed by court order.
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