Massive Pot Operation Taken Down

Three men were arrested on suspicion of a large-scale marijuana operation that spanned two counties and involved thousands of dollars in suspected drug profits, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office announced Thursday.

That's where detectives discovered a commercial, indoor marijuana grow with about 1,600 marijuana plants, as well as scales, packaging materials and about $12,000 in cash, sheriff's deputy April Skalland reported.

The raid happened around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Neighbors had been complaining about the smell of marijuana coming from the warehouse for some time, Sheriff's Sgt. Mark Yanez said.

But staffing issues and other cases put the Walker Street marijuana investigation on the back burner. Yanez acknowledged that they didn't get around to looking into the suspicions until last week.

"We've been getting tips for about year," Yanez said.

Three men were arrested on suspicion of illegally cultivating marijuana: 35-year-old John Benton of Watsonville, 23-year-old Brian Lincoln of Seaside and 30-year-old Ryan Tate of Salinas.

Yanez said the grow was one of the most sophisticated he's ever seen.

"And I've been doing this for 10 years," he said.

The property owner, Berman Enterprises, said the men had rented the warehouse—an old junkyard facility—for lumber storage. Word that the men had been using it for other purposes didn't shock the owner, but she said she was unaware of their business.

"Nothing surprises me anymore," said Alta, who didn't give her last name. "You read about this in the paper all the time."

There were two grow rooms, each about 111 feet long and 16 feet wide, in the warehouse, according to the Sheriff's Office.

"It was enormous," Yanez said. "They'd constructed a huge room inside of the big warehouse with plywood and other things. ... It was professionally done. To me, it looked like they spared no expense."

There also was a trimming room on the bottom floor. Living quarters had been constructed on the second story, Yanez said. 

PG&E came to cut power to the property, out of concern about the non-sanctioned wiring that had been installed for the grow operation, Yanez said.

After raiding the warehouse, detectives searched homes in Aptos, Salinas and Seaside. In Seaside, they reportedly found a pound of marijuana, $1,000 cash, scales, packaging material and high-powered rifles. In Salinas, they found two pounds of marijuana buds and $25,000 cash, Skalland reported.

In total, the Sheriff's Office seized 1,600 pot plants, $38K in cash, three pounds of marijuana and high-powered rifles. Detective suspect the cash is proceeds from selling the marijuana.

Growing smaller amounts of marijuana for medical purposes is legal in the state and in Santa Cruz County. Yanez said there were expired medical recommendations in the warehouse, but said that didn't play into the decision to arrest Benton, Lincoln and Tate.

"The issue to us is what are they doing," Yanez said. "They were growing marijuana to sell it and make money."

Read more about marijuana investigations in the area here.

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