12 arrested in marijuana trafficking in Lake, Lassen counties

Lake County Sheriff’s narcotics detectives helped seize nearly 1,800 marijuana plants in two counties and arrest 12 people believed to be members of a drug trafficking group, The Sheriff’s Office reported Thursday.

On Aug. 23, officers in cooperation with the National Guard executed a search warrant for two properties on the 8000 block of Rocky Creek Road in Lower Lake, according to a news release. There, they seized 666 marijuana plants and arrested six people, including Bill Lee, 50, of Fresno, who fled the property but was quickly apprehended.

Detectives later determined Lee owned two large, remote properties in Lassen County north of Susanville. On Sept. 1, Lake County narcotics detectives, Lassen County Sheriff’s deputies and officers from four state and federal agencies conducted a search of those properties. There they arrested six more people and seized another 1,121 pot plants.

The twelve were arrested on suspicion of cultivating marijuana and possessing the drug for sale. Eleven of the 12 were from Fresno and one was from Minnesota.