OSP reports ‘epic’ pot seizure
By Terry Murry on Sunday, November 21st, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
WHITE CITY – The Oregon State Police Southwest Region Drug Enforcement Section served a search warrant in White City and seized what it terms an epic amount of illegal processed marijuana and a firearm. The property on Antelope Road consists of five industrial-sized warehouses.
The DES team conservatively estimates they seized approximately 500,000 pounds of processed marijuana, with a street value of around $500 million.
More than 100 people were detained, identified, interviewed, and released. OSP states that several of them were migrant workers living on site in subpar conditions without running water. The law enforcement operation took two days to complete and began last Thursday.
“This is a very involved investigation and will be ongoing for several weeks,” an OSP news release states, adding that more information will be released when available.
The team from the state police was assisted by the Josephine Marijuana Enforcement Team, the Drug Enforcement Administration in Medford, the Basin Interagency Narcotics Team of Klamath County, the Illegal Marijuana Enforcement Team of the Medford Police Department and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, and Jackson County Fire District No. 3.
Southern Oregon is plagued by illegal marijuana grows. Oregon Public Broadcasting has reported that they are operating on land leased by owners to people claiming to be growing legal hemp. Water for the grows is stolen from local wells and rivers in the drought-plagued region.
