Illegal marijuana grow utilized stolen water

July 30, 2016

prague-potThe owners of a multi-million dollar illegal marijuana grow in Ventura County allegedly stole water to irrigate the pot plants from a nearby mountain. [KCOY]

On Friday, Ventra County Sheriff deputies raided the 80 acre operation outside Fillmore that included thousands of plants located in eight large greenhouses. The two owners of the grow, a man from Los Angeles and another from Texas, had hooked the greenhouses up to electricity, installed temperature controlled devices and piped in water.

“The thing that’s striking … is that they’ve taken water, it appears, out of the natural resource off the mountain which is totally illegal,” said Ventura County Undersheriff Gary Pentis . “We’ve called Fish and Wildlife, they’ve launched an investigation. They’ve actually made no attempt to adhere to California state law for medicinal marijuana.”

The owners of the illegal operation were working to sell the marijuana to distributors in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. There have been no arrests at this time.


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Does this mean that if our local pot farms are have water trucked to them and there is no permit to do so they are illegal too? It appears that tapping springs in the National Forest and illegal discharges into a trout creek is legal if you can make others believe that you are an environmentalist. Certainly the hypocrites have not learned that prescription cannot be obtain through a unlawful permit issued in error or against government regulated agency. Certainly illegal water use will continue to stop the pot farmers as well as the others who previously were able to have the agencies just look the other way. Ironically it may be the pot farmers who eventually stop illegal water uses or get paid big discrimination dollars as a result of selective enforcement?


Bob’s your uncle! WTF? Almonds, strawberries, grapes, weed – all unnecessary crops that suck the water from our dwindling reserves and I don’t see anyone cutting back to grow these. In fact, they’re planting more and more almonds up north while I have to rip out my lawn and pour beaucoup $$$ into my yard. And now I have to watch my loser neighbors just turn off their sprinklers and let their lawns turn brown to save a few measly drops of water cause Jerry says so.


Nestle’s water permit expired YEARS ago. But they still bottle water and ship it out of the state like crazy!


The thing that’s striking … is that they’ve taken water, it appears, out of the natural resource off the mountain which is totally illegal,” said Ventura County Undersheriff Gary Pentis

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A grower at the bottom of a mountain taking water flowing down to them?


Ya, real shocker.


where i grew up you just dug a hole and the water was yours. now there are water rules and very wealthy water rights attorneys. wtf with the resnicks?


and with my property in Boulder, someone wants some water from your pond you just flow it downstream.


Stealing water(or using more than your share):

Grapes, pistachios =Good

Pot=Bad


Stealing water (or using more than your share)


Wine Grapes=bad (wine is not a necessary food)

Pistachios shipped to China=bad

Illegal pot =bad

Resnicks=bad (read about how they are depleting the only fresh water aquifer in Fiji for their Fiji Water business)


Smoking pot harms the environment.


All the liberal downvotes aside, Kevin Rice has a valid point.


How in the hell can California justify pot grows in a time of drought??!?!


I’ll bet the amount of water per “buzz” of pot is way less than for wine.


Sounds like what the local vineyards who are pumping the small guys well dry. No big thing though, it’s where the money is.


Soyunds like what the local vineyards who are pumping the small guys well dry. no big thing though, it’s where the money is/