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DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ore. â Narcotics detectives in Douglas County have been extremely busy in August and September, serving search warrants at several large illegal marijuana growing operations.
According to the Douglas Interagency Narcotics Team, although there are legal ways to produce and consume marijuana in Oregon, the state has âbeen overrunâ with massive illegal sites that grow the plant. The DINT said these sites have been devastating to the local environments and water supply, and are often run and staffed by foreign and domestic organized crime groups. The DINT said these foreign crime groups can hail from places like China, Russia, Ukraine, Mexico, the Honduras, Laos, and many others.
The DINT said these grow operations often use banned toxic chemicals, overuse water resources, pollute the water and land, have dangerous working conditions, and engage in human trafficking to staff the operations. These sites can produce hundreds of millions of dollarsâ worth of black market marijuana which is then sold locally, nationally and sometimes globally, the DINT said.
In recent weeks, the DINT said it has busted several such illegal marijuana growing operations. On August 15, DINT detectives seized about 668 marijuana plants, 35 pounds of processed marijuana, and 256 pounds of marijuana edibles from an operation on Mobley Drive in Azalea. Luis Flores-Melendez, 27, of Rogue River, and Paul McCausland, 34, of Largo, Florida, were arrested and sent to the Douglas County Jail on charges of possession, manufacture and delivery of marijuana.
On August 22, DINT said officers searched a property on Highway 99 South in Dillard and seized 154,000 marijuana plants, as well as other marijuana products. In a related search on Dillard Gardens Road in Dillard on August 27, DINT detectives seized another 75,000 marijuana plants and a small amount of methamphetamine. DINT said these two sites were run by the same organization, and were two of the biggest grow sites ever seen in Douglas County. Jose Tejeda, 29, was arrested and jailed on charges of possession, manufacture and delivery of marijuana, and more arrests are expected, the DINT said.
On August 29, DINT seized 9,500 marijuana plants from a property on Backside Baldy Lane in Yoncalla, along with about 500 pounds of processed marijuana. Eduardo Reyes, 26, was arrested on charges of possession, manufacture and delivery of marijuana.
Finally, on September 4, DINT seized 1,700 marijuana plants and assorted evidence from a property on Goodrich Highway near Oakland. DINT said Youfu Wu, 40, Sinan Li, 49, Jiaming Wei, 42, and Weinan Fu, 51, were arrested and jailed on charges of possession, manufacture and delivery of marijuana.
”}]] Douglas County narcotics detectives said they have seized hundreds of thousands of illegally-grown marijuana plants in several searches of illegal grow operations.  Read More Â