Chinese and Mexican nationals operate almost all illegal marijuana growing operations in the United States’ largest county, the leader of a local marijuana enforcement team told Fox News.
“When most people talk about gangs, they think about the typical Southern California gangbangers,” Sgt. Rich Debevek of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Marijuana Enforcement Team said. “And that’s not the way it is.”
“Mostly what we deal with are either Mexican nationals or Chinese nationals as our two largest groups of people that we deal with,” he continued. “I would estimate 85% are non-citizens.”
MARIJUANA ENFORCEMENT LEADER REVEALS WHO RUNS ILLEGAL GROW OPERATIONS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAÂ
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San Bernardino County, the largest county in the U.S., has grappled with illegal marijuana growing operations for years due to the vast amount of available farmland. The San Bernardino County marijuana enforcement team has served over 2,100 search warrants and seized over $1 billion in cannabis plants and processed cannabis since 2020, Debevek told Fox News.
The enforcement team this week busted an illegal grow with over 5,000 plants, an operation estimated to be worth over $8 million per year, according to Debevek. Indoor-grown cannabis is the best quality and sells for the highest price, he said.
“My best estimate is probably 97 to 98% of all of our indoor marijuana cultivations are run by Chinese nationals,” Debevek told Fox News. “Back in 2019, we got involved in a yearlong investigation where we were able to prove that Chinese nationals were bringing in money from China, purchasing houses in the Chino, Ontario area and turning them into marijuana cultivations.”
Three men that year were arrested on federal charges, with authorities accusing them of using money wired from China to purchase homes in San Bernardino County and convert them to illegal marijuana grow operations. The multi-million dollar grow operations distributed cannabis illegally…
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