Another Yuba foothills pot garden destroyed

Another marijuana garden planted by a drug trafficking organization was eradicated Tuesday in the Yuba County foothills, a law enforcement official said.

Deputies found 1,345 plants in neat rows off Marysville Road between Dobbins and Bullards Bar Reservoir — the same general area where 5,000 plants were found and eradicated in early June, said Lt. Shaun Smith of the Yuba County Sheriff's Department.

Whoever had been tending the plants apparently left two or three days prior to the raid. The plants were spotted earlier in a law enforcement flyover, Smith said.

The remoteness of the area where the latest garden was found, along with food and empty beverage containers found in a camp, indicated a drug trafficking operation, he said.

The plants, in various stages of development, were being fed by a drip irrigation system, Smith said.

In mid-July when deputies raided another garden in the same general area, a man described as Hispanic and in his 40s fired a shot in their direction and disappeared.

The shot was fired when deputies were about 30 yards from the garden. No one was hit.

An extensive search of the area was unsuccessful.

Although the area is remote, the possibility of a passer-by stumbling on a garden being watched by an armed guard is always a concern, Smith said. The Sheriff's Department is not aware of any incident where that happened, he said.

CONTACT reporter Rob Young at 749-4784