The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office Marijuana Eradication Team destroyed a 4,141-plant marijuana garden with a street value of $22 million on private property just off of Mt. Hamilton Road near the Lick Observatory.
Two suspects were arrested after they were seen tending the marijuana plants on July 8. The suspects were Saul Toledo, 20, and Luis Herrera, 23, both of San Jose. Toledo was armed with a handgun.
The men were living in a tent within the garden. They were charged with cultivation, possession for sales, and possession of a firearm during commission of a felony. The state Department of Fish and Game is working on prosecuting the men for several environmental crimes committed in and around the marijuana garden including pollution, poaching and stream diversion.
On July 10, the team also eradicated 1,483 marijuana plants in Sanborn County Park. No suspects were caught at this grow site. The suspects, according to deputies, had cleared an area of the park and put a fence around the illegal crop.
The suspects were living near the garden in a tent and makeshift living area. This operation was coordinated with Santa Clara County Parks Department. County park rangers are planning to restore the area, which will include clean up of hazardous chemicals, plastic pipe, camping gear, and other cultivation supplies.
According to Special Operations Division Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Joe Waldherr the two gardens yielded a total of 5,624 plants. Once matured, these plants would have had a street value of more than $22 million.
The team is part of the sheriff’s Special Operations Unit and consists of two full time deputies and a sergeant. The state Office of Emergency Services funds most of the program, whose mission is to minimize marijuana availability through investigations, crop destruction’s, arrests, prosecutions of cultivators and traffickers, to deter cultivation and potential growing areas and to seize and initiate forfeiture of perpetrator’s assets.
Anyone having any information related to illegal indoor and/or outdoor marijuana gardens can call the team’s tip line at (408) 808-4420.
