Three men were arrested during a raid on an illegal marijuana growing operation in Kern County Friday, authorities said.
The men were arrested while the Kern County Sheriff’s Office’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force served search warrants at properties on the 500 block of Klipstein Street in Maricopa and the 400 block of E Street in Taft.
During the raids, authorities seized 959 marijuana plants, 52 pounds of processed marijuana and three guns, including a loaded 9mm semi-automatic handgun. The searches were part of a larger ongoing investigation, authorities said.
“The Taft address is a result of a lengthy marijuana cultivation operation where several search warrants were executed and a total of 2,112 indoor marijuana plants, 873 outdoor marijuana plants, 641.5 pounds of processed marijuana, and two loaded firearms were seized as a result of this investigation,” the Kern County Sheriff’s Office said.
The suspects were identified as Mexican citizens Jose Hernandez Ramirez and Victor de la Cruz Garcia, both 27, and 58-year-old Alberto Guitron. Ramirez, Garcia, and Guitron were booked into the Lerdo Justice Facility on numerous charges.
Ramirez and Garcia were both arrested for possession of a firearm while maintaining a place for sales, maintaining a place for sales, possession of marijuana for sales, and marijuana cultivation. Guitron was arrested for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and maintaining a residence for sales.
Wardens with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife also assisted with the investigation. See photos of evidence seized during the investigation in the slideshow embedded above.