‘Large-scale’ marijuana farm found in flyover, Butte County sheriff’s deputies say | The Sacramento Bee

A “large-scale” marijuana farm was located in Oroville on Monday, according to local sheriff’s deputies.

Around 1,400 marijuana plants were found after members of the Butte County Sheriff’s Office Special Enforcement Unit served a search warrant at a residential area on Cherokee Road, according to a news release from the department.

Three men were found inside the home, according to the news release — Beatriz Farias-Hernandez, 33, Ascari Farias-Aparicio, 44, both of Michoacan, Mexico; and Custodio Quiroz, 35. Another man — Agustin Cortez-Lopez, 41, of Mexico — was found in a camp outside.

No arrests were made, according to department spokeswoman Miranda Bowersox, as the case is still under investigation.

In addition to the plants, the special enforcement unit found 16 pounds of processed marijuana. A harmful fertilizer called Carbofuran, which is banned in the United States due to its toxicity levels, was found on the property and had to be removed by a hazardous materials team, according to the release.

The farm was located after deputies conducted an aerial overflight on an unrelated incident, Bowersox said.

A different marijuana farm was discovered via aerial overflight in Butte County last week, though Bowersox said that officers often gather information while they are in the air. She said that the purpose of overflights aren’t solely to catch illegal marijuana farms and that “it’s nothing additional” to what officers have been doing normally to find farms.