On the first day of operations two gardens were raided.  3,022 large marijuana plants were eradicated from the Red Cloud Mine area and 5,317 marijuana plants were eradicated from the Deer lick Gulch garden complex.  At least one Hispanic appearing male ran from officers in each of the two gardens and it was suspected that additional persons fled but officers were not close enough to confirm descriptors.  A .22 caliber rifle was located in the Red Cloud garden. 

Officers were then assisted by C.A.M.P members with the eradication of the marijuana product.  The C.A.M.P. helicopter flew all day removing the mature marijuana plants from the garden sites.  At the end of the first day’s operation,  8,339 marijuana plants filled three large horse trailers.

Most the Red Cloud marijuana plants were over 10 foot tall.

The next day of operation targeted a complex of wilderness marijuana gardens located in the Stanislaus National Forest near the Pilot Peak area.  Two teams of officers entered several grows, and then again, assisted by C.A.M.P, eradicated 5,195 plants from the several plots.

Officers entered a small grow, not far from a forest service roadway near Pilot Peak where108 marijuana plants were being tended by the gardener, Mr. John Gerry Christian, from Bradley, Ca.  Christian was taken into custody by officers.  The arrest was conducted without incident and Christian was booked into the Mariposa County Adult Detention Facility, charged with 11358 H&S –Felony Cultivation, with bail set at $100,000.00.

In all, the two day operation netted 13,624 marijuana plants, one rifle and one arrest.  This drug seizure equates to an estimated $40,926,000.00.

As noted, local, state and federal agencies assisted with these investigations.  The heat of the afternoon, combined with the steep and rocky terrain created a difficult environment to work in; however, nobody received injuries during the two day operation.