A Marijuana Eradication Team found 3,400 cannabis plants ("estimated street value": $10 million) growing in a remote area near Madonna County Park, outside of Gilroy, on June 28, and staked out the site waiting for the growers to return. Two men armed with rifles shortly approached the camp, and one reportedly raised his weapon when he saw the police; he was immediately shot by a member of the team. Identified as Alvaro Sanchez, 24, of Morgan Hill, he is now hospitalized with injuries that are not said to be life-threatening. The other man escaped.
The Eradication Team was made up of Santa Clara and Santa Cruz county deputies, and state Fish & Game wardens. Game warden Patrick Foy said there was a "massive amount of trash from living in the woods," including food containers, pesticides, human waste, toilet paper, bottles and cans. The growers dammed a creek in two spots to supply water to the plants, Foy said. (AP, June 30, Santa Cruz Sentinel, June 29)
Graphic by Global Ganja Report
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Suspected grower killed in raid of wildlife refuge
A man suspected of operating an illegal marijuana grow was shot and killed during a multi-agency raid at Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge near Sacramento April 29. The Sacramento Bee reported that the California Fish and Game officer who shot the man in the chest feared for his life when shots were fired. (High Times)