This is what happened to the 100,000 cannabis plants that were confiscated from the historic bust of San Fran

In late September, millions of dollars in cash and over 100,000 cannabis plants were seized in the San Francisco Bay Area. Law enforcement agencies in constitutional states of cannabis are cracking down on illegal cannabis operations. Although these illegal operators show up every other day.

Black market production of cannabis in Alameda

In a raid that lasted over 48 hours, police officers in Alameda put an end to several growing areas in the area. These locations had one thing in common: They were unlicensed cultivation areas that operated what the police called “modern bootlegging”. The massive raid is now considered one of the largest busts of illegal cannabis growing areas in California.

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The Alameda County Sheriff’s Office dutifully conducted these operations across the East Bay and they successfully seized millions of dollars in cash while also seizing tens of millions of dollars worth of cannabis plants in probable black market sales. This estimate was made by the law enforcement agency.

City Sheriff’s Bureau Public Information Officer Ray Kelly said the websites searched were organizations operating outside of the law, working around normal cannabis governance protocols in the state. These operators made millions in profits by refusing to obtain licenses and pay taxes to the government.

Kelly added that upon inspecting the searched sites, he found that these holdings used high technology and extremely sophisticated farming practices. The businesses were by no means shoddy, but rather profit-oriented and motivated by greed. He also added that several suspects were arrested during the raids on the sites; the names of the arrested people are not yet known. The factories were built exclusively for cash robbery.

Raid had been in the works for several months

Last week’s raid succeeded with over a hundred staff and agents working in the sheriff’s county devoting the last eighteen months of their lives to the mission. The investigations into the searched sites began around March 2020. As expected, the police officers did not run to the scene of the crime when they received the first complaint. The 100 employees worked with the Alameda County Drugs Task Force. The team has issued search warrants at 18 different cannabis locations in East Oakland, Castro Valley, San Leandro, and Hayward.

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Alameda County drug detectives were the first to investigate the area when they received a lead from unknown sources about the existence of illegal cannabis cultivation in the Bay Area. In addition to cash and pot that were confiscated on site, the agents also confiscated Rolex watches and other pieces of jewelry.

In his speech, Kelly announced that the raid resulted in over 12,000 pounds of marijuana products that were processed and harvested. If the raid had taken place a day or two later, these products would have been shipped to other areas or states for sale.

It’s not surprising how much money these local illegal businesses have, given the black market cannabis industry is much bigger than the legal market. The raid on an Oakland growing area raised about $ 10 million in cash. The officers also received evidence of money laundering in the ransacked warehouse.

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All of this could have been avoided if the owners of these acreage had done the legal by applying for a license. Now the police operation may have cost you everything, because as in the past, the owner of this site never shows up.

Applying for the appropriate permits, paying the necessary license and tax fees would have prevented everything that happened in Alameda last week. At the press conference held at the Oakland warehouse, Kelly showed reporters a bag containing about a million dollars in cash. He revealed that the bag was one of the confiscated props that were looted in the raid. In his speech, he announced that the raid helped bring down some of the largest illegal cannabis farms ever discovered in recent years.

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The looted acreage was compared to the cannabis farms that operated in the 1920s. They were also more interested in bootlegging operations. There is no point in investing so many millions in an unlicensed company. The county announced that it believes these illegal growers have approximately 500,000 square feet of arable land on which they are growing more cannabis.

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All of the business of these searched sites is even more sophisticated than some of the legal cannabis growing locations in California. These operators have thought through everything, from the infrastructure to warehouses to other necessary buildings and the necessary craftsmen. Everything was there except for the papers that would have legalized the whole business.

Weeds worth millions turned to ashes

In case you’re wondering what happened to the confiscated pot, it would be interesting to know that it was taken to a location in California’s Central Valley and then burned. That’s about 12 truckloads of cannabis in smoke because some businesses wanted to take all of their money away without tax.

The sheriff’s spokesman also announced that the office believes forensic accountants have a role in the business of the illegal operations. Search warrants are still being processed to search additional areas for evidence that could support the case.

The organization looks like one that exists in Utopia because it was so sophisticated and organized. At least every week they alone made tens of millions of dollars in profits. The Alameda Sheriff County announced on Facebook that it had seized more than $ 10 million in cash alone, excluding the high-priced equipment, infrastructure, supplies and even generators that were seized in the elevated areas.

Bring away

At least seven suspects are currently behind bars and more will be arrested as soon as agents connect the pints and solve the main puzzles. The disappointing aspect of this successful raid is that it is not enough to prevent these illegal operators from starting shopping again. The black market is a very lucrative business, so this type of bankruptcy will do little deterrent.

This article originally appeared on Cannabis.net and was republished with permission.