600 pot plants seized, 3 arrested near Guerneville

Three people were arrested and more than 600 marijuana plants were eradicated during a raid Tuesday near Guerneville, according to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.

Amado Valente, 50, Jose Abarca-Caballero, 33, and Hugo Garcia-Arambula, 49, were arrested after they tried to flee down a hill into a wooded area of the property when deputies served warrants in the 18000 block of Sweetwater Springs Road, Lt. Carlos Basurto said.

A fourth suspect, Antonio Reyes-Rosales, 36, suffered a bite wound when deputies used a police dog to help them with the arrest. Rosales was taken to a local hospital for treatment, Basurto said.

Sheriff’s deputies and detectives served the warrants just before 8 a.m. Wednesday morning on three properties located off the same driveway, Basurto said. In addition to the pot plants, some of which were more than 10 feet tall, a 9 mm handgun was confiscated at one of the marijuana gardens.

All the suspects except Reyes-Rosales were booked into the Sonoma County Jail on suspicion of cultivating and possessing marijuana for sale. Their bail was set at $20,000 each.

You can reach Staff Writer Elizabeth M. Cosin at 521-5276 or elizabeth.cosin@pressdemocrat.com.