Cops destroy pot plants with potential $11m value

July 8, 2009 - 7:23 PM
THE PORTERVILLE RECORDER

SPRINGVILLE — Authorities this week destroyed 2,750 marijuana plants with an estimated street value of $11 million.

Two suspects were arrested within the grow site.

Detectives from the Tulare County Sheriff’s Tactical Enforcement Personnel unit found the plants Tuesday within privately owned and Forest Service public lands in the Giant Sequoia National Monument above Camp Nelson.

The suspects, whose names were not released, were booked at the Main Jail on suspicion of cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, committing a felony with a firearm and conspiracy. The case remains under investigation.

The estimated value of the illegal weed was based on what it could sell for had the plants been allowed to mature.