Charges still pending following cannabis raid

Trinity County Environmental Health scientists documented dozens of environmental violations, including illegal water diversions, large scale illegal grading, unpermitted structures with dangerous illegal electric installed, areas where deleterious, petroleum products were being introduced into watersheds, and use of dangerous rodenticides and pesticides.

No arrests were made at the scene but several subjects were interviewed.

“All subjects were sufficiently interviewed to confirm their identity. They were cited at the arrest locations and released,” Trinity Sheriff Tim Saxon said. “This was mainly due to the four-hour drive to return them to the County Jail for processing. Due to the nature of the violations, and the current population of the jail, the subjects would most likely have been given a date to appear in court and released.”

District Attorney David Brady said his office has yet only received one case from the operation, which he had not reviewed as of July 27.

“We are still evaluating the evidence collected as a result of the search warrants served on these locations,” Saxon said. “This is just one of many operations we will participate in with our law enforcement partners as we combat the increase in transnational drug organization activity.”

“A total of 84,850 marijuana plants were eradicated, 5,419 pounds of processed marijuana was destroyed, and six firearms were seized,” a TCSO report stated.

The operation also led to the seizure and destruction of those marijuana plants. A common method of disposal is to grind the plants into tiny particles, mix them with dirt and bury them. Saxon said abated plants were ground onsite and buried.

Saxon said after the operation, any remaining hazardous chemicals were marked, wrapped and packed by Trinity County Environmental Health team members for removal either then or at a future date.

Those cited at the scene were from “Trinity, Humboldt, Mendocino and other locations in and outside of California,” according to Saxon.