Seventeen people were arrested and nearly 1,400 plants seized when state drug agents shut down a multimillion-dollar marijuana growing operation Monday near Elk Grove.
The 7 a.m. raid by the state's Mountain and Valley Marijuana Investigation Team wrapped up a monthlong investigation into the grow, tucked into a cornfield and processed in a barn east of Interstate 5 near Lambert Road, said California Department of Justice spokeswoman Michelle Gregory.
Agents valued the yield at $8.3 million once processed, Gregory said.
First spotted by helicopter, the operation was "a good size" and "sophisticated," Gregory said, adding that the plants were mature, topping out at 6 to 7 feet tall on the 12-acre property.
Photos showed the harvested marijuana drying on racks under the shade of the barns and equipment that the agents believe was used to process the pot.
Agents are finding more pot plots among corn and other flatland crops, Gregory said, as growers move their operations out of the forested foothills.
Of the 17 arrested, seven were being booked into Sacramento County jail on allegations of possession, possession for sale, cultivation and conspiracy.
The seven included Kao Choy Saechao, 46, of Sacramento, who is alleged to have led the operation. Also booked were Kao Fin Saelee, 28; Lou Saelee, 21; Loe Chiew Saechao, 44; Lao Liam Saetern, 38; Wonh Minh, 53; and Phillip Saechao, 61, all of south Sacramento.
Gregory said Kao Fin Saelee is a suspected gang member but said it was unknown whether the grow was a gang-related operation.
Ten others face the same allegations but were not being booked into county custody, Gregory said.
Authorities believe they were laborers hired to pull in the illicit crop.
"It's harvest season right now. They were brought in to get the stuff processed," Gregory said.
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.
• Read more articles by Darrell Smith
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "Report Abuse" link to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
• Don't flag other users' comments just because you don't agree with their point of view. Please only flag comments that violate these guidelines.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "Report Abuse" link to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them.
Order Reprint
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "Report Abuse" link below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.