On 7/09/2021, detectives with the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, officers and biologists from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Nevada County Code Enforcement, and biologists with California State water Resources Control Board executed numerous marijuana search warrants within Nevada County. The locations targeted were sites that have been identified as posing large environmental impacts due to poor cultivation practices in addition to not being permitted with the state or local agencies.
Search warrants were executed in the 16000 block of Lowell Hill, 12000 block of Puffball Court and the 12000 block of Lost Lake Road.
During the search warrant executions, numerous Fish and Wildlife violations were noted, including: 5652 Fish and Game Code which states (in part) it is unlawful deposit, permit to pass into, or place where it can pass into the waters of the state, or to abandon, dispose of, or throw away, within 150 feet of the high water mark of the waters of the state, any cans, bottles, garbage, motor vehicle or parts thereof, rubbish, litter, refuse, waste, debris, or the viscera or carcass of any dead mammal, or the carcass of any dead bird.
Also noted during the execution, the California State Water Resource Boards located several violations, including: 13264 Water Code which states (in part) No person shall initiate any new discharge of waste or make any material changes in any discharge, or initiate a discharge to, make any material changes in a discharge to, or construct, an injection well, prior to the filing of the report required by Section 13260 and no person shall take any of these actions after filing the report but before whichever of the following occurs first…
Nevada County Code Enforcement noted none of the gardens were in compliance with the growing ordinance and even located numerous egregious code violations including unsafe indoor and outdoor wiring creating potential fire hazards, unpermitted structures and grading issues.
At the conclusion of the search warrants, detectives noted several felony violations of 11358 Health and Safety Code, 2200 marijuana plants were eradicated. Three cultivators were contacted and released pending final reports from State Waterboards and Fish and Wildlife. The cases will be filed with the District Attorney’s Office at the conclusion of the investigations.