Continuing raids on illicit pot gardens at the edge of Mendocino County's remote Round Valley yielded 32 more arrests Wednesday, including seven Seattle residents and eight from the state of New York apparently brought in to tend the marijuana gardens, authorities said.
The arrests and seizures of more than 11,000 plants - some as tall as 15 feet — were made at three addresses on Eel River Ranch Road southeast of Covelo, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office said.
Six firearms, 2,107 pounds of processed marijuana and cash totaling $12,485 also were seized, the sheriff's office said.
It was the second day of raids conducted by federal, state and local drug agents that were continuing their sweep Thursday and, possibly, Friday, sheriff's Capt. Kurt Smallcomb said.
On Tuesday, 17 people were arrested and booked into the Mendocino County Jail from raids on six different properties, authorities said.
At least two others were arrested and cited to appear in court, including two suspects who were subdued with Taser stun guns, Smallcomb said.
On Wednesday, 20 suspects were arrested and booked into jail, while another 12 were arrested and cited to appear - either because they were believed to have lesser culpability or because of other considerations, Smallcomb said.
One local suspect, Gordon Wittrock, 49, is from Seattle but lives now on Eel River Ranch Road. Seven other Seattle residents were arrested at that location, Smallcomb said.
The eight suspects from various towns in mid- and upstate New York were arrested at another address.
"Once again, coming to the new Gold Rush," he said, "which is the Green Rush of Mendocino County."
As many as 50 representatives from the County of Mendocino Marijuana Eradication Team, the California Campaign Against Marijuana Planting and federal agencies were involved in the raids, which were plotted based on aerial surveillance and other intelligence.
"It's a continuing, ongoing investigation into the illegal profiteering of illegal marijuana — not medicine," Smallcomb said. "We aren't going after medical marijuana."
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