While the number of marijuana gardens broken up this year increased by only 25 percent over the year before, the number of plants seized jumped 350 percent to 238,335, Sheriff’s Department records show.
“Not only does it confirm how widespread this problem has become in our beautiful backcountry, it also shows the Sheriff’s Department is committed to eliminating the grows that we find,” said Lt. Sonny LeGault.
Authorities said an additional 1,954 pot plants were seized from indoor growing operations, a slight decrease from 2008 when 2,500 plants were seized.
The total number of plants seized, 240,219 — enough to supply every county resident with half of a plant, according to a news release — carried an estimated street value of $720.8 million.
“This is not for medicinal use; this is purely for profit which can come at a very high price in terms of the public’s safety,” said Cmdr. Laz Salinas, who oversees the Sheriff Department’s special investigations unit.
The majority of the illegal marijuana gardens discovered in the county each year are on public property, often concealed in remote areas of the Los Padres National Forest.
Along with leaving behind mounds of garbage, authorities say the marijuana fields, and the pesticides and generally sophisticated irrigation systems used to maintain them, tax the environment.
But beyond these concerns, officials say the fields often are booby-trapped and guarded by armed growers who authorities say typically are linked to Mexican drug trafficking organizations.
In 2007, local authorities linked one homicide to a marijuana field that was found near Lompoc, and earlier this month, Sheriff investigators announced the arrest of 17 suspects who they say are connected to a marijuana growing operation that was busted in the hills above Santa Barbara, which could also be connected to a homicide.
The proliferation of marijuana cultivation in the backcountry has also been traced to one large fire.
Officials say a faulty propane tank that marijuana farmers used for cooking started the La Brea fire, which scorched 90,000 acres of rugged country near New Cuyama in August.
Authorities urge anyone who stumbles across a marijuana garden to note the location and contact law enforcement.