Reaching the third week of “Operation Hammer Strike,” the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department’s Marijuana Enforcement Team and deputies from other stations arrested 31 suspects last week (Sept. 13 -17, 2021). These suspects were tied to illegally growing cannabis. This could be the sort of answer to some of the major issues that come from cannabis illegality. For instance, these illegal farms are connected with water thefts in areas already suffering from shortages.

Operational Understanding

For clarification, Operation Hammer Strike, as reported by Cannabis Business Times, is an “investigation to attack the existing unlawful cannabis cultivation in San Bernardino County, Calif.,” which has led to many arrests already. In the first week of the operation, officials served warrants in four California cities. This led to the arrest of 12 individuals. Additionally, the officials discovered more than 10,000 illegal cannabis plants and roughly 1,335 pounds of processed cannabis.

Second Week

In the second week of the operation, deputies served 23 more search warrants throughout various Southern California cities. This led to the discovery of 21,002 more illegal plants. Additionally, they seized 5,628.5 more pounds of processed marijuana, nine guns, and over $9,000 in cash. They also “liquidated” 113 greenhouses found throughout the searched locations.

Third Week

Reaching the most recent week, law enforcement, as already mentioned, arrested 31 individuals and served as many search warrants. Investigators performed these after receiving “numerous complaints about large outdoor marijuana cultivations in these areas” according to the Sheriff’s Department. As a result, they seized nearly 30,000 more illegal cannabis plants, 6,000 pounds of processed cannabis, and about $19,000 in cash. Law enforcement also destroyed 138 greenhouses found throughout the locations.

Reasons

The reasons behind these actions is due to the investigators finding that the “cannabis cultivations were not in compliance with California’s Medical and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act (MAUCRSA) and San Bernardino County’s ordinance prohibiting commercial cannabis activity”. These acts are the ones that establish the licensing for both medical and adult-use cannabis. It should be pointed out that they are not clear on how these growers were not in compliance.

Potential

This operation is the result of reports of thousands of illegal marijuana grows, or farms, in the county of San Bernardino alone. This resulted in the county allocating $10 million to add more teams to perform this operation. Regardless of the debate surrounding the legalization of cannabis, these illegal growers show that there is a likelihood of illegal activity occurring. It is possible that with cannabis becoming legal federally, there could be more or better oversight to prevent these or other situations. It is part of the reason why activists seek legalization in order to ensure growers bring good and legal products onto the market.

For now, they just have to wait until lawmakers make the decision to legalize.

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