Over 18,000 marijuana plants seized, 1 arrested in large illegal grow near Oregon school

GLENDALE — One person has been arrested and more than 18,000 marijuana plants have been seized from three warehouses next to a high school in southwest Oregon, according to the Douglas Interagency Narcotics Team.

The Narcotics Squad said in a news release Friday that detectives executed a search warrant at Glendale warehouses on Thursday after smelling marijuana and seeing large numbers of people and equipment coming and going.

Detectives found a Medford man hiding in a building and uncovered a large illegal marijuana grow operation with plants in all stages of growth, along with approximately 4,100 pounds of processed pot, according to the news release.

A large number of lighting equipment, water and air filtration systems were found along with hundreds of fans and timers, monitoring equipment and pesticides, according to the narcotics team.

Eduardo Hernandez-Reyes was arrested and taken to the Douglas County Jail on suspicion of unlawful possession, manufacturing marijuana and manufacturing marijuana near a school. It was not immediately known whether he had an attorney to comment on the case.

In the years since Oregon voters passed a ballot measure legalizing the recreational use of marijuana and its regulated cultivation and sale, the state has cracked down on illegal marijuana farms. marijuana mainly in the south.

The Oregon Legislature last year earmarked $25 million to help police, sheriff’s offices and community organizations pay the inflated costs of cracking down on industrial-scale farms.

– The Associated Press