Lake County >> Authorities arrested one man and eradicated more than 13,000 marijuana plants earlier this week.
Members of the Lake County Sheriff’s Narcotics Unit and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rangers entered a cultivation site to serve a warrant for any tent or dwelling located within it on Monday at approximately 7:15 a.m., Lake County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Steve Brooks said in a media release Thursday afternoon.
The warrant was secured after the narcotics unit on April 4 reportedly discovered a large-scale marijuana cultivation site during a routine overflight operation in the bottom of drainage, on the south fork of Scotts Creek in a remote area west of Lakeport.
While conducting surveillance of the cultivation site, they noticed a man wearing camouflage, Brooks said. The subject was walking from the creek bed uphill toward where the deputies and rangers were positioned. As the subject continued on the trail toward their location, they were able to take him into custody.
The deputies and rangers cleared the grow site and a camp they found. The camp contained two tents and a large amount of food supplies, Brooks said. They reportedly noticed that the marijuana was being irrigated using what they call a complex gravity-fed drip irrigation system, which was diverting water from a spring.
The law enforcement officials found and eradicated 13,060 marijuana plants in four separate plots. The marijuana was described as being mature and in the late flowering stage.
The subject was later identified as being Jose Armando Gutierrez–Mardueno, 46, of Brentwood. He was arrested and charged with the cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and resisting arrest. He was later transported to the Lake County Hill Road Correctional Facility and booked.
