Nearly 2,000 pot plants confiscated by Yuba County deputies near Rackerby

A tip from a deer hunter led to the removal of nearly 2,000 marijuana plants in a wildlife area between Rackerby and Palermo on Monday, the Yuba County Sheriff's Department reported.

An overnight flyby on Friday confirmed an anonymous tip that plants were being grown near the county line, and deputies went in Monday and seized 1,991 plants with an estimated street value of $3.8 million, said Lt. Shaun Smith, who heads the eradication team.

The removal is a good example of the public's help in destroying illegal grows, he said, and the department continues to urge the public to report suspicious activity, anonymously if desired, that could be related to a drug trafficking organization pot garden.

No arrests were made, but a witness reported seeing people walking toward that area every morning. Evidence at the scene indicated the plants were being cared for on a daily basis but not overnight. Investigators are following up on possible leads.

In addition to the grow, deputies broke up a dam creating a water source from a stream, Smith said. The site had the typical littering and environmental damage commonly seen in illegal grows.

The Sheriff's Department reported in early September that seizures of marijuana planted by drug trafficking organizations in the Yuba County foothills are up by 31 percent this year with the harvest not yet over. As of Sept. 4, 19,326 plants had been seized, compared to 14,767 all of last year.

More pot gardens are being discovered all over Northern California, but it's not clear if Mexican drug trafficking organizations are planting more, or if state and local law enforcement agencies are doing a better job of finding them, according to the Sheriff's Department.

On Tuesday, Butte County sheriff's deputies shot a man at a grow site near Berry Creek.

The suspect, Juan Gutierrez, 24, was initially hit with a less- than-lethal bean bag shotgun round, the Sheriff's Office said.

Gutierrez fled into the grow site and fired at the deputies with a handgun. Deputy Jack Storne, seeing Gutierrez shoot at deputies, fired twice at Gutierrez, striking him once in the leg. Gutierrez was arrested and treated at a local hospital.

His bail was set at $1 million.

On Sept. 14, three Sacramento County men were arrested after a predawn raid in the Sutter National Wildlife Refuge in South Sutter County. The men would arrive by boat at night to plant and tend about 750 plants.

The day before, officers in the Yuba-Sutter Narcotic and Gang Enforcement Team worked with other area law enforcement agencies to eradicate 4,500 plants growing next to the Feather River in Live Oak on private property. One man was arrested in that bust.

In late August, the Yuba County Sheriff's Department eradication team removed 3,083 plants — worth an estimated $2 million — growing on U.S. Forest Service land south of Bullards Bar Reservoir. No one was arrested.

With a few more weeks to go in the marijuana harvest season and deer hunting season under way, the risk remains that a member of the public will stumble on a garden being watched by armed guards, the Sutter County Sheriff's Department has advised.

Anyone who wants to report suspicious activity possibly related to marijuana grows can call Deputy Mark Heath or Deputy Scott Rounds at 749-7777.

CONTACT reporter Ashley Gebb at 749—4783.