Siskiyou County’s new interagency marijuana team had a busy week after the recent implementation of their new marijuana ordinance. It duplicates Shasta County’s rules, with a total ban on outdoor growing. 7 search warrants were served at cultivation sites on private property last week. On Tuesday Daniel Donovan was arrested at his property on Camp Creek Road in Hornbrook after 187 plants were found, along with honey oil and 3 guns. Two people who apparently work for Donovan will face charges later. The other 6 warrants were served on Thursday, with temperatures at 104 degrees, in the Shasta Vista area, where the team seized a total of 600 growing marijuana plants, 4 pounds of processed marijuana bud, 2 guns and a generator. 5 people were arrested on the six properties, including one person who tried to hide out in a rock formation but was spotted by a CHP helicopter crew.
A different interagency team includes the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Department and the Forest Srvice for enforcement on public lands. Over the past two weeks that team has destroyed or hauled out more than 60,000 marijuana plants from the forest. More than 12,000 plants were pulled from a single garden in the Rock Creek area. Two men were seen running away but no arrests have been made in the recent operations on public lands. The sheriff’s office says they’ve seen a lot of environmental damage caused by pot growers, including downed trees, garbage, raw sewage, water diversions and illegal chemicals and fertilizers.