By BEN BROWN/The Daily Journal
Article Last Updated: 02/15/2008 09:09:38 AM PST
Seven people were arrested and more than 5,000 marijuana plants seized in Dos Rios Wednesday in an early morning raid by local, state and federal law enforcement officers.
Law enforcement officers served a search warrant on a remote ranch near the Eight Mile Bridge in Dos Rios at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday and seized 5,275 plants, ranging from seedlings to full-grown budding plants, as well as 100 pounds of processed marijuana, $20,000 in cash, two handguns and five rifles.
Officers also arrested: Kite Isaac Finds the Feather, 29, and Amanda Lee Wood, 28, both of Dos Rios, on suspicion of cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and child endangerment.
When officers arrived on scene to serve the search warrant, the suspects fled in a Jeep down a dirt track toward the Eel River, taking three children, ages 6, 5 and 2 years old, with them.
After the subjects were arrested, the children were turned over to Child Protective Services as per the drug endangered children protocol.
Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Lt. Rusty Noe said it was not clear whose children the kids were; Wood and Finds the Feather were living together in Dos Rios.
Officers were led to the ranch through investigation into a separate case by the County of Mendocino Marijuana Eradication Team and the Drug Enforcement Agency, which is ongoing.
"This was a spin off of that," Noe said.
COMMET, assisted by DEA agents, officers from the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement and
deputies from the Sonoma County Marijuana Eradication Team, served the search warrant.
After the suspects were arrested, officers searched the ranch and found an extensive marijuana growing operation, Noe said.
Two structures on the property were being used to grow marijuana, according to sheriff's reports. One was a barn that had been converted into a grow room; the other was a starter room and processing shed.
The starter room contained 271 grow lights run by a 400-kilowatt generator. Noe said the generator was three or four times the size of a car.
"It was one of the most extensive grows I've ever seen," he said.
Officers also found a second 350-kilowatt generator at the ranch as well as 25 gallons of waste oil and a large plastic tank containing fuel for both generators. Officers called the Mendocino County Department of Public Health to investigate any possible environmental hazard.
When officers were leaving the scene, a Mendocino County sheriff's deputy saw a man walking on Highway 162 one mile from the scene and questioned him.
The man, Romero Juan Agudo, 24, was one of the people who had fled the house. Agudo told deputies that he was one of seven men living on the property who had been working in the marijuana garden, according to sheriff's reports.
On Thursday morning, sheriff's deputies arrested four more men who are alleged to have been part of the operation. One of the suspects, who had left his wallet at the scene, was identified as Antonio Alfonso Agudo, 21; the other men have not been identified.
All five men were arrested on suspicion of marijuana cultivation and were booked into the Mendocino County Jail on no-bail immigration holds. Noe said it is not uncommon to find illegal immigrants working in illegal marijuana gardens.
Wood and Finds the Feather were booked into jail and are being held on $500,000 bonds each.
Major Dos Rios pot bust
ReplyDeleteBy Linda Williams/TWN Staff Writer
Article Launched: 02/20/2008 11:00:05 AM PST
A multi-agency task force led by the County of Mendocino Marijuana Eradication Team raided a major indoor pot grow at a Dos Rios ranch in the mountainous area above the confluence of Outlet Creek and the Eel River just after dawn on February 13. Six men and one woman were arrested, three children are in the custody of Child Protective Services, and agents seized 100 pounds of processed marijuana, $20,000 in cash, two pistols and seven rifles, and eradicated 5,275 pot plants from seedlings to mature plants in full bud during the raid.
The raid involved law enforcement officers from COMMET, Sonoma County Marijuana Eradication Team, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement Redding Task Force. The raid resulted from an ongoing investigation, according to police.
As officers arrived at the property suspects were spotted fleeing the scene. One group fled on foot and another was seen traveling down a rough dirt trail toward the Eel River in a Jeep.
The helicopter supporting the raid spotted the Jeep abandoned near the river and helped officers locate two suspects Kite Isaac Finds the Feather and Amanda Lee Wood and three children ages 6, 5 and 2.
According to deputies, Finds the Feather and Wood had fled the residence in the Jeep with the children riding unrestrained in the back of the vehicle along the primitive track, through downed trees and over rough terrain.
"It was fortunate this case did not turn into a tragedy and the suspects were found with the children safe. The way they fled placed the children in danger had the suspect lost control of the Jeep on the road," says sheriff's Lt. Kurt Smallcomb.
The children were given warm clothing before being transported by helicopter to CPS. When found, the children were dressed lightly in short sleeved shirts despite the cold temperatures, say police,
When the suspects were taken into custody, Finds the Feather attempted to hide a loaded handgun at the scene, say police.
Finds the Feather and Cook were arrested on suspicion of cultivation and possession of marijuana for sale, child endangerment and being armed in the commission of a felony and are being held on $500,000 bail.
Finds the Feather is one of the founders of Mendo Maté, according to a Mendo Maté marketing spokesman. The spokesman refused to comment on Finds the Feather's current role, if any, with Mendo Maté unless he had a lawyer present.
Two main buildings at the ranch were used for growing plants, say police. One served as a starter room and processing building and the other as the main grow area. About 271 grow lights were found powered by generators. Two generators, a 400 and a 350 kilowatt unit, powered the operation. The diesel supply for the generators was stored in a plastic water tank and at least 25 gallons of waste oil was found at the scene. Mendocino County Environmental Health inspectors are reviewing the site for contamination caused by the operation.
"It was one of the most extensive grows I've seen," says Lt. Rusty Noe.
One man was spotted by deputies walking on Highway 162 near the bust following the raid. Romero Juan Agudo was questioned by police and advised there were seven men working and living at the site. Agudo, 24, was arrested on suspicion of cultivation of marijuana for sale.
Evidence found during the raid then led deputies to Antonio Alfonso Agudo, 21, whose wallet was found on the scene, and to the arrest of Agudo; Lucha Lorenzana, 21; Aristeo Hernandez Hernandez, 49; and Nacario Lopez-Cruz, 42, on suspicion of cultivation of marijuana for sale.
All five are believed by law enforcement to be Mexican nationals and are now in Mendocino County jail on immigration holds with no-bail status.
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