Thousands of marijuana plants, cannabis products seized from Central Coast grow site

A months-long investigation led to the seizure and eradication of thousands of marijuana plants and processed cannabis this month at a cultivation site near Santa Maria, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.

The sheriff’s Cannabis Compliance Team, with the assistance of the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, served several search warrants at the grow site in the area of Morning Hill and Dominion Road east of Santa Maria, Lt. Erik Raney said.

Authorities also served warrants at various homes in Santa Maria, Nipomo and unincorporated Arroyo Grande, Raney said.

“The search warrants resulted in the seizure of hundreds of thousands of dollars of illegal cannabis, and cannabis-related products being offered for sale,” Raney said. “Approximately 2,800 cannabis plants were eradicated from both indoor and outdoor cultivation sites, and hundreds of pounds of processed cannabis was seized.”

An operational butane honey oil lab also was discovered during the search, and honey oil was seized, Raney said.

No arrests were made, Raney said, adding that criminal complaints will be forwarded to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office for review.

Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.

This story was originally published August 28, 2019 at 1:09 PM.