Police nab $23 million in marijuana plants

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VACAVILLE -- Sheriff's narcotics deputies on Tuesday say they seized a total of $23 million in marijuana plants capping a four-day operation in the Gates Canyon area northeast of Vacaville.

A total of about 4,500 mature marijuana plants were seized from the remote, rocky property that required a helicopter and all-terrain vehicles to access, sheriff's spokeswoman Paula Toynbee said.

Acting on a tip, the operation was carried out in two main phases - the first being Friday where some 3,500 plants were seized. The second phase was carried out Tuesday when 1,000 more plants were discovered and seized, Toynbee said.

"More than 15 cargo net-loads of marijuana were removed from the mountainside and transported to an isolated area and burned," Toynbee said.

When authorities first reached the remote 1 acre site last week they found no one there and through late Tuesday had made no arrests in connection with the raid.

Sheriff's detectives said the mature plants - valued at about $5,000 each on the street - were hidden underneath a dense canopy of oak and manzanita trees. The plants were all growing in terraced, irrigated plots at the site which is located not far from the Solano-Napa county line.



In addition to sheriff's narcotics deputies, members of the Solano County Emergency Services Response Team and a California Highway Patrol helicopter unit participated in the raid, Toynbee said.

Daily Republic
By Jeff Mitchell
September 01, 2004
Copyright Daily Republic
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