Ventura County Law Enforcement arrested three men from kern County after they were discovered tending to a 55,000 plant marijuana operation in the Los Padres national Forest located in norther Ventura County near the small town of Ojai. This was very near the site where a record setting bust took place last year. That grow was discovered by hikers while this was discovered by a night surveillance operation by the Ventura County Sheriff.
Along with the three men, police found a handgun, growing supplies and about one pound of finished marijuana. One of the three men posted bail while the other two remain in custody. Interestingly, the sheriff seems to have discovered this grow back in June and continued to investigate it. The sheriff waited until they could attempt to connect specific responsible individuals to the 7 separate “gardens” that were uncovered by the investigation.
The sheriff cautions anyone who is hiking or biking or camping in the area to be aware that there could be other such operations in the area. In fact, the sheriff might even know about other such operations and are simply waiting for people to show up before they make arrests. With the sheriff busy trying to bust marijuana grows, maybe we should find somewhere else to camp and hike for a while.