Thousands of marijuana plants discovered in Los Banos cornfield, authorities say

One person was arrested after the Merced County Sheriff’s Office located a large marijuana grow in a Los Banos cornfield, according to a news release.

After the Merced County Sheriff’s Office Aviation Unit located the large marijuana grow, deputies stopped a U-haul truck from leaving a property in the 19000 block of West Almond Avenue. There, they located more than 900 pounds of finished product intended to be shipped to Rio Vista, according to a news release.

The Sheriff’s Office says five subjects were detained at the residence, where deputies located about 4,000 marijuana plants. Authorities say the residence had been turned into a grow operation as well as a processing and packaging center for high-grade marijuana.

Deputies recovered more than $5,000 in cash from the property and arrested the owner of the operation, according to the news release.

The department enlisted the help of a local farmer to chop down the field, allowing deputies to eradicate the marijuana.

This story was originally published October 23, 2018 at 1:17 PM.