Over 2000 marijuana plants destroyed at illegal grow site in Los Padres National Forest
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – Detectives seized about 2,500 marijuana plants at an illegal grow site in the Los Padres National Forest.
On Sep. 5, 2025, the Ventura County Special Weapons and Tactics Team and detectives with the Ventura County Sheriff's Narcotics Unit executed a search warrant at a suspected marijuana cultivation operation in a remote part of the Los Padres National stated a press release Monday from the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.
A search of the area near Munson Creek revealed a large marijuana grow site with about 2,500 actively grown plants as well as a basic living quarters with food and cooking supplies, a man-made reservoir, thousands of feet of plastic water hoses, pesticides and insecticides, fertilizers, and trash detailed the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.
The Ventura County Sheriff's Office noted that evidence was collected from the scene indicating that the grow location was operated on behalf of Mexico-based Cartel Jalisco New Generation.
The reservoir constructed on the site was syphoning water from a natural spring that was being used to water the plants being grown there and both the plants and water were being treated with an assortment of pesticides and insecticides including Metamidofos, a highly toxic compound banned in the United States, explained the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.
Runoff from the grow location went into smaller waterways before reaching Sespe Creek added the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.
Detectives picked up about 2,000 pounds of trash and items and destroyed the seized marijuana plants with an approximate black market value of up $2 million shared the Ventura County Sheriff's Office.
