Law enforcement confiscates 26,000 marijuana plants

EXETER —Law enforcement agents from the federal, state, and county destroyed more than 25,000 marijuana plants on Monday and Tuesday. The six grow sites were located east of Exeter in the Yokohl Valley -- land overseen by the Bureau of Land Management.

An investigation into the illegal cultivation of marijuana lasted for a month before county sheriffs and the other agencies served a search warrant at the 35300 block of Yokohl Valley Rd., approximately 3,000 feet in elevation, the Tulare County Sheriff's Department reported.

The plants had been growing for a month. If allowed to mature, they would have been worth $106,368,000.00.

The county sheriff's department is not yet releasing why the investigation was started, Sergeant Chris Douglass said.

No arrests have been made, Douglass said.

Agencies involved in the investigation include: The Tulare County Sheriff Tactical Enforcement Personnel Team, the Bureau of Land Management, Campaign Against Marijuana Planters, the Tulare County Sheriff Narcotic Task Force, and the Southern Tri County-High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.

-- Contact Jenna Chandler at 784-5000, Ext. 1050.