Massive marijuana operation found near Klamath Falls; street value tops $100 million
(Update: Adding photos, sheriff's office news release)
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. (AP) — Klamath County sheriff's deputies stumbled into a significant illegal marijuana operation this week, finding an amount of marijuana with a street value conservatively estimated at more than $100 million, authorities said.
A 27,000-square-foot potato shed south of Klamath Falls was filled with marijuana in various stages of processing, the Herald and News reported. Authorities said marijuana was drying in giant strands that stretched from the roof to the floor, buds had been pruned and stuffed into 40-pound (18 kilogram) bags, hundreds of those bags were stacked against a wall, and years of discarded marijuana waste was in piles ready for disposal.
Klamath County Sheriff Chris Kaber said Friday he had never seen anything like it in 30 years of police work. It was found Wednesday after someone called in possible smoke in the area.
Arriving deputies noticed the back of a nearby building was open and they could clearly see marijuana inside, Kaber said.
“Our deputies showed up and they saw what they saw, and they couldn’t unsee it,” Kaber said.
The Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant Thursday. People on site at the time were interviewed but not arrested. Inside the building, cots were set up where workers slept.
After securing the area and identifying some of the people on the premises, officers documented the property. And then a number of county agencies began removing the marijuana and cleaning up, which will take days and possibly weeks.
The search at the potato shed led detectives to two other grow operations that were linked to the processing facility, where they found more marijuana and processing equipment, the sheriff said. The three sites were linked by land ownership, lease agreements and by heavy equipment rentals to multiple locations taken out under a single name, Kaber said.
No weapons or cash was found at any of the locations.
Many illegal grows in the county are operating on property owned by local landowners, who tend to lease their property to strangers who claim they want to grow legal hemp. In reality, people growing illegally are getting a good price for a place to grow at the expense of the landowner, who assumes most of the risk, the sheriff said.
The grows often require a staggering amount of water, stolen from local wells and rivers, in order to feed the crops. The issue has plagued many Klamath County residents, in addition to the smell and sometimes threats of violence from those operating and protecting the grows.
Klamath County Sheriff's Office news release:
On October 6, 2021 Klamath County Fire District #1 crews were dispatched to a location in the 4000 block of Highway 39 in Klamath Falls on reports of smoke being seen from a building. Upon arrival KCFD1 crews called for law enforcement and Klamath County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to the scene and discovered a large marijuana processing facility.
Investigators worked throughout the next several days to inventory the contents of a large building approximately 27,000 sq. ft in size. This building contained conservatively over $100,000,000.00 of partially processed and unprocessed marijuana believed destined for markets in other states.
Sheriff Chris Kaber states: “I have managed drug teams and worked in law enforcement for over thirty years and I’ve never seen anything like this. We believe this was a facility that was central to processing for many of the illegal grows in the area.”
This building was equipped with drying and packaging equipment in addition to numerous code violations for electrical, health and safety. Additional information collected at this location led investigators to locations in the 11500 block of Springlake Road and the 8300 block of Elliott Rd where thousands of additional pounds of processed and drying product were destroyed.
Sheriff Kaber further states: “We believe we’ve disrupted the operations of this group of organized criminals in a very significant way. Beyond the illegal nature of these facilities, this also represents many millions of gallons of water used for this illegal activity at a time of extreme drought when many people don’t have water for even basic necessities. I will be asking the District Attorney to pursue forfeiture of the property on highway 39 as well as stepping up forfeiture action of future sites to discourage this activity. People need to understand that they are ultimately responsible for what happens on their property, even if they rent or lease it to other people who use it illegally.”
Klamath County Sheriff Chris Kaber would like to thank Commissioner Donnie Boyd for his personal involvement as well as the following entities for their assistance on this incident:
Klamath County Board of Commissioners
Klamath County Fire District #1
Klamath County Community Development Solid Waste Division
Klamath County Public Works
Klamath County Code Enforcement
Klamath Falls Police Department
Oregon State Police Basin Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team (BINET)
The Reserve Deputies and Volunteers of KCSO
The Entire KCSO team who worked many hours of overtime
