Authored by Brad Jones via The Epoch Times,
A convoy of sheriff's deputies heads into a vast network of illegal marijuana grow operations in the foothills of Mount Shasta in California's Siskiyou County.
They drive into a dusty encampment strewn with garbage and piles of empty plastic fertilizer containers, a blight on the otherwise scenic landscape.
Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue participates in marijuana enforcement operations outside Montague, Calif., on June 4, 2026. The sheriff's department is spread thin, with limited staff to cover nearly 6,300 square miles. John Fredricks/The Epoch TimesThe morning raid is nothing new for Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue.
Thousands of makeshift greenhouses known as "hoop houses" - each one containing hundreds of illegally grown cannabis plants - are operating in the county at any given time, LaRue told The Epoch Times, as his deputies scoured the Mount Shasta Vista subdivision, a 20-minute drive northeast of Weed, Calif.
The sheriff's office has counted 2,732 hoop houses using satellite and aerial imagery in the subdivision alone.
By the time he arrived at the scene on June 4, all the occupants had fled.
Spotters at these illegal grow sites - sometimes armed with AK-47s and rifles, according to nearby residents - alert laborers to leave the camp when they see sheriff's deputies approaching.
Except for a few roosters, an older German shepherd, and a couple of curious pups, the site was abandoned. The occupants had already cleared out when an
