© Provided by NBC Los Angeles – Rows of greenhouses are picture in this aerial photo of a marijuana growing operation in the Antelope Valley.
Illegal marijuana operations are spreading fast in the Southern California desert, now numbering well over a thousand.
Nearby neighbors say they’re being terrorized, as operators go to extremes to build and guard their “grows.”
After a pit bull attack in late 2019, one couple from Twentynine Palms is wondering why local leaders won’t take the one step that could cut off the grower’s life line.
“I knew there was a weed farm, a marijuna farm, up the road, and I knew they had pit bulls, but I didn’t think much of it,” Amy Tessier said. “As I ran by, one of the pit bulls came charging out from behind the fence and just lunged and bit my legs. It was a really traumatic experience.”
That attack led Tessier and her husband Jeff Taylor to take a closer look at what was happening around them in the city.
“I realized, as time went by and we started to see more hoop buildings and more illegal grows popping up that, I was like, ‘Wait a minute, this actually isn’t legal,’” Tessier said.
“Large berms are created in an effort to hide from law enforcement, and hide their activities from neighbors,” Taylor explained as he took News4 on a tour of the area.
He pointed out dozens of what the sheriff’s department confirms are illegal operations in this part of San Bernardino County, where growing marijuana remains against the law despite the passage of Prop. 64.
That proposition legalized pot in California, but also changed illegal cultivation from a felony to a misdemeanor, with fines of only $500.
“I’ve had people cry to me how they’re terrified, there are grows right next door to them,” Tessier said.
The community is coming together to fight back, charting and reporting these illegal farms to law enforcement. Their “Dragon One Community Watch” drone has captured images of more than 120 of these operations.
“I’m not scared anymore, I’m angry,” Tessier said. “I want to protect our community for them, for my children, for all the people in this community.”
“It’s a huge problem, and I don’t think everyone grasps the magnitude of it.”
There are some typical signs of illegal operations, the community group has learned, One sign is hoop houses where the marijuana is grown, often behind fences covered in dark fabric.
In Twentynine Palms, city water is often readily available near other signs of the operations.
“You can see that this location is being supplied by city water because there is a municipal water box right there on the property,” Taylor said, pointing out various grow sites since busted by law enforcement. “And that’s how this pot farm was being fed by city water.”
To Read The Rest Of This Article By Carolyn Johnson on MSN
Published: August 04, 2021
Founder & Interim Editor of L.A. Cannabis News
