Six arrests, 2,664 marijuana plants removed in Clearlake this week

Clearlake police officers this week destroyed 2,664 illegal marijuana plants across five properties while arresting six people.

On Saturday, officers removed 476 plants, five guns and cash from a home in the 2700 block of Smith Lane, and arrested Consuelo Arroyo-Ramirez, 43, and Arturo Gomora-Hernandez, 47, according to a news release.

That same day police also removed 90 plants and two guns from a home just down the street, and arrested Arturo Maldonado, 29, and Brian Maldonado, 22.

Tuesday, police arrested two more men, Alfredo Casanova, 22, and Pedro Chavarria, 22, after officers cleared 629 marijuana plants from their property in the 3800 block of Hemlock Avenue and found two guns and illegal insecticides in the home, the release said.

Police removed another 862 plants Wednesday from a property in the 3000 block of Old Highway 53. No arrests were made, but police said the growers were injecting liquid fertilizers into an irrigation system run by a well, which could mean local groundwater was contaminated.

You can reach Staff Writer Christi Warren at 521-5205 or christi.warren@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @SeaWarren.