Crime & Safety
The sheriff’s department generally receives multiple federal law enforcement grants annually. A $500K cannabis eradication grant just hit.
Posted Tue, Mar 18, 2025 at 7:32 pm PT
Under the county’s Marijuana Comprehensive Regulatory Framework of 2018, proposed outdoor and indoor commercial cannabis grows are required to undergo a stringent vetting process to qualify for licensing by the county and state. (Shutterstock)
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — The Board of Supervisors Tuesday authorized Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco to accept a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in support of operations to eliminate illicit marijuana grows and carry out investigations that lead to criminal prosecutions.
The board without comment unanimously approved the “Domestic Cannabis Eradication & Suppression” grant award to the sheriff’s department, retroactive to Oct. 1, 2024.
“This funding will allow the sheriff’s office to eradicate and suppress the cultivation of illicit cannabis by gathering intelligence related to the illegal cultivation, possession and distribution of cannabis on private and public lands,” according to an agency statement posted to the board’s agenda. “These efforts will improve the health and welfare of the residents and businesses of the county.”
The sheriff’s department seeks and generally receives multiple federal law enforcement grants annually.
The DEA funds must be expended by Sept. 30 for “overtime and operations expenses” incurred as a result of countywide efforts to crack down on illicit marijuana grows, documents stated.
Any sheriff’s raid or seizure deployment in which the grant money is used must be documented.
The funding can be specifically applied to investigations that lead to arrests and prosecutions and the disposal of unauthorized grows. Officials said that a key part of the program is collecting cannabis samples and submitting them to the National Institute on Drug Abuse Potency Monitoring Project to determine what types of plants and their conditions which are commonly cultivated for grows within the county.
Under the county’s Marijuana Comprehensive Regulatory Framework of 2018, proposed outdoor and indoor commercial cannabis grows are required to undergo a stringent vetting process to qualify for licensing by the county and state.
The board has approved only a couple of commercial grows in the last six years.
The sheriff’s department generally receives multiple federal law enforcement grants annually. A $500K cannabis eradication grant just hit. Read More
