SAN LEANDRO — What was described as a “modern day bootlegging” marijuana operation was dismantled by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office in a two-day series of county-wide raids that seized up to $42 million worth of plants and millions of dollars in cash, authorities said.
Authorities said the operation is apparently the largest in Bay Area history. As of Thursday afternoon, some 12,000 pounds of marijuana had been seized in the raids, authorities said.
A warehouse in the 1600 block of Neptune Drive in San Leandro was raided Thursday morning. Deputies there found 10,000 high-grade marijuana plants, Sheriff’s Sgt. Ray Kelly said. No arrests were made at the site.
There were so many plants deputies had to use gasoline-powered hedge trimmers to cut them down before they could be transported, Kelly said.
At a news conference Thursday outside the warehouse where the most recent raid was conducted, Kelly said tentacles of the operation could reach across the state and possibly even farther. Several people suspected of running the operation were arrested but none of their names were released.
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Kelly, who displayed a satchel containing $1 million in cash seized during the raids at 18 different sites, said the suspects “were motivated by extreme profit and greed. It was a pure cash grab by the organizers of this enterprise.”
He said no taxes were paid on the profits and that forensic accountants would be part of the investigation into the operation. There were also environmental and other concerns about how the grow was being handled, he added.
According to Kelly, the suspects would purchase the warehouses and other structures used to grow the marijuana and set up elaborate and sophisticated operations that included computers, timers and other materials. He said the suspects would pay handsome salaries under the table to a variety of people including electricians, plumbers, gardeners, harvesters and transporters to keep the operation running smoothly.
At one site, he said deputies found 10 diesel powered generators that were used “just to power it.”
Kelly said it took 12 tractor trailers to transport the seized marijuana to a Central Valley site for destruction. The total amount of plants and materials seized weighed 37.6 tons, he added.
Kelly said 100 sheriff’s personnel as well as the Alameda County Narcotics Force had been involved in the 18-month investigation, which he said started from a tip given to authorities and included many hours of surveillance.
Kelly said because of the profits to be made from such illegal operations he doubted if the arrests would be much of a deterrent. “There is nothing to stop them from doing it again,” he said. “It’s such a lucrative business.”
During a separate raid Wednesday afternoon, at a warehouse in Oakland in the 800 block of 77th Avenue in the city’s Fitchburg neighborhood, deputies outside would only tell this news organization that a search warrant was being executed before attending to a container blocked off by crime-scene tape.
At that site, Kelly said, a search revealed as much as $10 million in cash, as well as evidence that appeared to suggest money-laundering operations.
“This is an organization operating outside the law and the protocols of governance of marijuana in California, unsanctioned and making millions in profits,” Kelly said in part, calling the grow operations “very sophisticated” and “high tech.”
“What’s crazy about this is had they applied for proper permits and fees and paid all their licenses and tax fees, we wouldn’t be here,” he said. “This is one of the largest grows we’ve ever seen in recent memory. It’s a massive operation.”
In a social-media post late Wednesday, the sheriff’s office said detectives carried out more than a dozen search warrant operations, and that processing and accounting would take several days, adding in part: “This organized and sophisticated network of individuals were making tens of millions of dollars in profit and avoiding California [marijuana regulations]. We estimate at this time that we have seized over 100,000 plants and upwards of $10,000,000 in cash. In addition, there are millions of dollars in infrastructure, equipment, lighting, generators and supplies used to facilitate the grows.”
Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.
