Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims today announced the seizure of a large amount of marijuana late last week.

This past Thursday, October 17th, Narcotics detectives served a search warrant at an undisclosed location in northeast Fresno County after a week long investigation.  

During the service of the warrant, detectives seized 80 marijuana plants, 580 pounds of marijuana shake, and 2020 pounds of dried marijuana bud.  The investigation revealed a majority of the marijuana had been grown at other locations in Fresno County under the guise of medical marijuana.  

The estimated value of just the dried marijuana bud is over 8 million dollars.

Nine people were detained, one from San Diego, the others from New York, Oregon, and Georgia.  None were arrested, however the investigation is continuing.  The case is being forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.

This is yet another example of drug trafficking organizations attempting to profit by exploiting California’s medical marijuana laws.

So far this year, the Sheriff’s Office has identified over 500 marijuana grows in Fresno County, and eradicated almost 240,000 plants.