More than $350 million in illegal cannabis has been seized in raids on illicit growers up and down California this year as law enforcement aims to protect the state’s legal market for pot products, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Oct. 21.
Nearly 800,000 illegally cultivated cannabis plants have been eradicated and more than 100,000 pounds of processed cannabis seized, a press release from Bonta’s office said. Authorities also made 282 arrests and seized 201 weapons in 36 counties.
The operations were part of the Eradication and Prevention of Illicit Cannabis (EPIC) program, a collaboration of federal and state agencies. EPIC’s focus includes the environmental damage caused by illicit cannabis operations, their economic ramifications, as well as labor exploitation.
Authorities were particularly busy in Riverside County, with agents seizing 136,601 plants from 79 sites. In Siskiyou County, 98 sites were raided and 67,943 plants seized. And in Shasta County, agents seized 51,289 plants from 67 sites.
“California has the largest safe, legal, and regulated cannabis market in the world, but unfortunately illegal and unlicensed grows continue to proliferate,” said Bonta.
EPIC’s focus on environmental damage has led agents into state parks, where dangerous chemicals leach into waterways and destroy otherwise pristine environments. California is home to 1.59 million acres of state forest parks.
“Unfortunately, illegal cannabis cultivation is a serious threat to that land with more than 400 sites documented,” said California State Parks Law Enforcement Assistant Chief Jeremy Stinson.
Agents seized toxic chemicals, including carbofuran, methyl parathion, aluminum phosphate, zinc phosphide, and illegal fertilizers.
“Carbofuran, in particular, poses untold risks to public health,” the press release stated. “A lethal insecticide that is effectively banned in the United States, carbofuran remains on plants after application and seeps into soil and nearby water sources.”
In 2024, EPIC teams have conducted 665 operations throughout Northern, Central, and Southern California. They disassembled and removed infrastructure, including dams, water lines, and containers of toxic chemicals.
“California cannabis enforcement has a long way to go to ensure that the illicit cannabis doesn’t make it into the legal market,” said San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus in the EPIC announcement.
Of the 36 counties in which EPIC raids were carried out, the 10 with the most eradications were the following:
- Riverside: 79 sites, 136,601 plants eradicated
- Mendocino: 116 sites, 133,702 plants eradicated
- Kern: 60 sites, 89,819 plants eradicated
- Siskiyou: 98 sites, 67,943 plants eradicated
- Fresno: 31 sites, 52,796 plants eradicated
- Shasta: 67 sites, 51,289 plants eradicated
- Sacramento: 13 sites, 46,042 plants eradicated
- Lake: 48 sites, 42,776 plants eradicated
- Trinity: 38 sites, 32,381 plants eradicated
- Nevada: 33 sites, 28,428 plants eradicated
Cannabis Task Force
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office
announced on Oct. 22 that the state’s Unified Cannabis Enforcement Task Force (UCETF) has seized $70.7 million worth of illegal cannabis since July.
The Task Force’s seizures for the year across 13 counties are valued at more than $191 million after Newsom directed state agencies to “aggressively target” organized criminal cannabis enterprises.
“This quarter we targeted unlicensed cannabis operators misusing the California cannabis universal symbol on their packaging,” said Bill Jones, chief of the California Department of Cannabis Control’s Law Enforcement Division. “This deceptive practice confuses consumers and puts them at risk.”
UCETF has seized and destroyed more than 162 tons of illegal cannabis—worth an estimated $536 million—since it was established in 2022, according to the governor’s press release.
California voters approved recreational use of marijuana by adults 21 and over in 2016.
