An illegal cannabis grow site was uncovered in a home owned by an Oakland police officer, reported CNN.
What Happened
This past April, California's Department of Cannabis Control carried out search warrants at several upscale homes in Antioch, a suburb of San Francisco.
The investigators, who police the legal sale of marijuana statewide, first removed 80 pounds of weed from the pricey two-story home belonging to Samson Liu, a police officer in Oakland. The 2,800-square-foot, four-bedroom home had been modified to function as a cannabis cultivation site with a generator and extensive ventilation.
The move was part of a series of coordinated raids across the block that ultimately led to the confiscation of a total of roughly $1 million worth of illicit marijuana on the same day.
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Despite the substantial haul, no individuals were found or arrested at the scene. Liu was put on administrative leave the same April day the raid took place. This past Tuesday, the Oakland Police Department, which Liu joined in April 2015, told CNN, "the matter is under investigation."
California’s Cannabis Crackdown: Lots Of Raids, Why No Arrests?
That said, only two individuals ended up cuffed and facing misdemeanor charges after 60 raids undertaken in Antioch since 2022, CNN reported citing DCC records.
With California grappling with illicit cannabis operations for years now, legal cannabis sales are logically the most affected. In June, the State Department of Tax and Fee Administration posted first-quarter sales and tax figures revealing the lowest quarter for marijuana sales since the second quarter of 2020.
State regulators, for their part, are trying to tackle this burning issue. The week before Labor Day, the DCC revealed on X that a Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce operation in Contra Costa County resulted in 1,315 pounds of illegal cannabis and the seizure of 2,317 plants worth $2.1 million.
According to Bill Jones, DCC’s chief of law enforcement, some of the operations from the Antioch raid feature signs linked to "the Chinese criminal syndicate." He said the presence of Chinese nationals has been eclipsing Mexican cartels in recent years in California's black market.
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