$28 million pot bust at Malibu State Park
By Daniel Wolowicz danielw@theacorn.com

In what authorities are calling one of the single largest marijuana plant seizures in Los Angles County history, over 28,000 marijuana plants found growing in the Malibu Creek State Park were destroyed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department earlier this month.

Lt. Pete Fosselman, a member of the Sheriff’s Marijuana Enforcement Team, said he estimates the street value of the marijuana to be around $28 million.

Police have not made any arrests, but authorities said they will continue to monitor the area for other encampments.

Fosselman said he spotted the plants—which were spread over a half mile on the side of a densely forested hill—while conducting air surveillance.

With the recent rains, pot farms have proliferated in the surrounding mountain areas.

“In the last two years, our plant count has been around 40,000 to 45,000,” Fosselman said. “This year, so far, we’re at 71,000.”

He said it was the first time his team had found a pot farm at the state park.

Foselman said pot farms, such as the one destroyed, are often irrigated using plastic piping, which is easy to carry into the remote areas.