Sonoma County law enforcement agencies seized 63,000 marijuana plants during a weeklong operation, authorities said Friday. Working with state Justice Department investigators, the county’s narcotics task force destroyed $1.1 million worth of plants found in the hills east of Kenwood as well as at locations on Calistoga Road east of Santa Rosa, Rockpile Road by Lake Sonoma and Skaggs Springs Road near Annapolis.
At the Kenwood site, authorities also took 20 pounds of harvested marijuana that was in the process of being dried. Detectives said they are finding more evidence of processing alongside gardens than in the past, when the harvested plants were usually taken to a separate location to be manicured. The narcotics force also discovered several campsites supplied with food and clothing near the gardens.
The plants, ranging from two to five feet in height, were found in steep terrain necessitating access by helicopter, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department. So far this year, the narcotics task force has seized more than 100,000 plants, compared to 42,000 in the same time period in 2006.
