Last night, the Morongo Basin Municipal Advisory Council met in a lively virtual meeting that focused almost entirely on the problem of illegal marijuana grows, mostly in the Landers and Desert Heights areas. Reporter Heather Clisby was there …
The Morongo Basin Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) gathered last night via Zoom for a nearly two-hour meeting where the main topic was illegal pot farms.
Captain Luke Niles from the Morongo Basin Sheriff station explained the sheriff’s effort and how it runs parallel to the county’s Narcotics Division. Local sheriffs have served 34 search warrants since the start of the year and the Narcotics Division has served 30. Since March 17, the sheriffs have spent 1,200 man hours serving these warrants and have seized 33,000 pot plants.
Still, law enforcement is wildly outnumbered with 141 active grows still up and running. “You take one down and five pop up in its’ place,” said Niles.
There was much discussion around local water districts and if they could somehow withhold resources to these large-scale operations. Niles did state that while they expected to find plenty of utility theft, they have only found five instances.
Landers representative Michel Cicero proclaimed the problem a “community in crisis” noting that not only do the illegal grows disturb the quality of desert life, but they bring crime and intimidation and that many of her neighbors are now looking to move.
MAC Chairman and Wonder Valley Representative Steve Reyes presented a resolution that would declare support for Supervisor Dawn Rowe and request personnel and funds be secured for the fight. Though MAC meets every other month, the urgency of the matter led MAC members to tentatively schedule another meeting for June 14 where another resolution – this one addressing state support – would be presented.
