Linn County Sheriff’s detectives pulled 920 mature marijuana plants from property off Brush Creek Road, south of Sweet Home, on Friday, Sheriff Tim Mueller reported.
Detectives had been investigating the large marijuana grow, which was on private property owned by Cascade Timber Consultants. The marijuana grow was suspected of being linked to a Mexican cartel. Two workers lived in a tent at the grow site and it appeared that they had lived there for a couple months, Mueller said.
He said Linn County Sheriff’s Office detectives and members of the Linn County Regional SWAT team entered the garden Thursday. Two Hispanic males fled from the garden and into the surrounding brush.
Deputies and a tracking dog attempted to track them for some distance but were unsuccessful in locating the suspects. Deputies, with assistance from the Linn County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue, cut and removed the 920 plants Friday. They also located more than a pound of processed marijuana in the campsite. The investigation will continue, Mueller said.
The Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Sweet Home Police Department, Lebanon Police Department, Albany Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Land Management.