Merced deputies cracking down on marijuana during harvest

As marijuana harvest season moves into full gear, Merced County deputies are cracking down on illegal outdoor grows and the sheriff is reminding area residents of the dangers often associated with trafficking the crop on the black market.

“The reason we take this so seriously is that it brings a criminal element to these places where the growing occurs, including the thefts, the violence and the things that come when people try to protect their crop,” Sheriff Vern Warnke said in a telephone interview.

Warnke’s statements came late Monday as deputies from his departments chopped down dozens of towering plants at a farm outside Gustine. Deputies eradicated about 90 plants from a home in the 7800 block of Whitworth Road, south of town.

The plants ranged in height from 8 to 12 feet tall and were capable of producing at least 5 and as many as 8 pounds of marijuana buds each, Sgt. Ray Framstad said.

Investigators, led by Deputy Chris Sziraki, raided 42 grows during the month of August, eradicated more than 8,000 plants, and seized nearly two dozen firearms, Framstad reported.

Framstad said deputies target methamphetamine production, but said most of the supply that comes to Merced County is produced elsewhere.

“You actually don’t see a lot of meth labs in the county,” he said. “We find (methamphetamine) conversion labs, but most of the time, they produce it places like Mexico and bring it here. It’s marijuana that is the cash crop for a lot of people associated with organized crime.”

Deputies also noted many of the people growing marijuana for profit in Merced County come from other states.

Warnke said those growers tend to be the most abusive to the environment.

“They use and steal water that should go to legitimate farmers and they dump all kinds of chemicals into the ground that can get into our aquifer and then they leave,” Warnke said.

Over the last week, deputies have eradicated dozens of plants in remote areas, including small creeks in Stevinson and Delhi.

“The aviation unit has been critical in helping us not only locate some of these more remote grows, but they’ve also helped get into some of these very isolated areas,” Framstad said.

Deputies are working with area farm watch groups in Hilmar, Stevinson and Gustine to help eradicate commercial grows. “People can contact us with an anonymous tip or they contact any of the farm watch groups, too,” he said.

This story was originally published September 1, 2015 at 5:20 PM with the headline "Merced deputies cracking down on marijuana during harvest."