Team raids Applegate Valley pot operation
Sep. 2—A law enforcement team that raided an illegal marijuana grow in the Applegate Valley found an abandoned horse plus evidence that workers there may have been victims of forced labor trafficking, the Jackson County Sheriff's Office said.
A SWAT unit helped with the raid because of an elevated threat from the operation's connection to a drug trafficking organization, the sheriff's office said.
Detectives identified the primary suspects, and investigations into the drug trafficking organization are ongoing, the sheriff's office said.
The marijuana grow and processing site in the 6000 block of Carberry Creek Road near Applegate Lake had approximately 32,546 marijuana plants and 148,900 pounds of processed pot. The team destroyed the material, the sheriff's office said.
The team also found three guns and 6.6 pounds of butane honey oil, the sheriff's office said. The oil, a marijuana derivative, is often extracted with potentially explosive methods.
An abandoned horse found on the property was turned over to a local horse rescue group, the sheriff's office said.
The team detained, interviewed and released more than a dozen workers who were potential victims of forced labor trafficking with the help of a forensic interview specialist and a federal Homeland Security Investigations victim advocate specialist.
Video and photos from the bust show the workers lived in tents or slept on a building floor on foam and mattresses. A plastic container with a hole at the top appeared to be used as a makeshift toilet and was filled with human waste.
"Indications are that workers were being paid inconsistent wages, some much lower than minimum wage, and provided substandard living and working conditions to process illegal marijuana," the sheriff's office said in a press release.
The UNETE center for farmworker advocacy in Medford responded to help the workers and offer support services.
The Oregon Legislature previously allocated money to help nonprofit groups work with law enforcement to address the poor treatment of workers at Illegal marijuana grows. Many of the workers are migrants who lack transportation and money. They sometimes face threats if they try to leave grows or ask to be paid what they're owed. They're often displaced with nowhere to go after raids.
Jackson County Code Enforcement issued citations to the property owner totaling $98,000. The violations were for 75 structures, including greenhouses that were either unpermitted or contained unpermitted electrical or mechanical installations. Violations also included unpermitted marijuana production, solid waste and camping within a marijuana grow site. The property had a permit to grow hemp, but there was no licensing for recreational or medical marijuana growing, handling or processing at the site, the sheriff's office said.
Hemp, marijuana's look-alike but nonintoxicating cousin, is legal nationwide and is covered by far fewer regulations than marijuana.
Marijuana is legal in Oregon and many other states, but is often trafficked and sold for higher black market prices in states where it remains illegal.
Due to the size of the growing and processing operation in the Applegate Valley, many agencies assisted with serving the search warrant, the sheriff's office said.
The Jackson County Sheriff's Office used its own workers from patrol, criminal investigations, the jail, search and rescue, evidence and K9 teams. Outside agencies included HSI, federal Bureau of Land Management law enforcement special agents, a U.S. Forest Service law enforcement and investigations unit, Oregon State Police Southwest Region Drug Enforcement Section team and Josephine County Sheriff's Office detectives from the Josephine Marijuana Enforcement Team.
Reach Mail Tribune reporter Vickie Aldous at 541-776-4486 or valdous@rosebudmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @VickieAldous.
