During the months of May 2017 through September 2017, the Ventura County Sheriff’s West County Street Narcotics Team in conjunction with the United States Forest Service, the California Department of Justice, the California Department of Fish and Wild Life, and the California National Guard Counter Drug Task Force conducted marijuana eradications on illicit marijuana gardens in the Los Padres National Forest. These marijuana gardens are structured and organized by illegal drug trafficking organizations (DTO’s), who’s members live in and manage the gardens during the summer growing season.

A total of fourteen marijuana eradication operations were conducted during this time period throughout the Los Padres National Forest, which resulted in the seizure and destruction of approximately 130,000 illegally grown marijuana plants. This is an approximate 28,000 plant increase from the previous year. In addition to the marijuana plants, several tons of trash, food, waste, encampment items, firearms, and fertilizers were removed from the forest lands along with miles of plastic irrigation lines. In every marijuana garden eradicated, plastic irrigation water lines were encountered. Many of these water lines ran for miles to a natural water source. Several of the natural flowing water ways had been artificially dammed, altering the water flow and habitat to native fish, plant and wild life.

The value of the seized marijuana plants have a conservative whole value of $130,000,000 and an approximate street value of $585,000,000.

The C.A.M.P program consists of personnel from the United States Forest Service, California Department of Justice, California Department of Fish and Wild Life and the California National Guard. The West County Street Team consists of Detectives from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and the Oxnard Police Department.