A multi-agency marijuana eradication operation held Tuesday resulted in the arrest of three Mexican nationals and recovered 25,242 plants from two grows located between Coarsegold and Oakhurst.
Some plants had already been harvested but had the majority of plants reached maturity in early September, they would have netted nearly $76 million.
This number surpasses the recent 18,100 plant eradication in Coarsegold, making this the largest number of marijuana plants eradicated on private land in Madera County.
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A fire and $300,000 worth of losses are not enough to keep William Swigart from doing what he feels is his calling.
When the season of marijuana raids wraps up, thousands of plants, worth millions, will have been eradicated from the county, but left behind will be heaps of rubbish.
Considered among area law enforcement agencies to be the most violent crime against local ecology, the far-reaching effects of marijuana growth on national public lands are largely unknown and unmitigated.
