A raid of a marijuana garden Wednesday morning on a ranch east
of Pacheco Peak was complicated when two drug agents were injured
in an all-terrain vehicle crash. Unified Narcotic Enforcement Team
Cmdr. Mark Colla suffered minor injuries in the crash, UNET
confirmed.
Hollister – A raid of a marijuana garden Wednesday morning on a ranch east of Pacheco Peak was complicated when two drug agents were injured in an all-terrain vehicle crash.
Unified Narcotic Enforcement Team Cmdr. Mark Colla suffered minor injuries in the crash, UNET confirmed. Another agent driving the vehicle suffered broken ribs, said UNET agents, who declined to identify that officer while maintaining his injuries were not life threatening.
CalFire was dispatched to the scene of the crash at 9:40am Wednesday. Both men were eventually flown to a San Jose area hospital by helicopter, UNET reported.
The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office Marijuana Enforcement Team, UNET and the Bureau of Land Management cooperated in taking out 2,500 marijuana plants, UNET agent Dave Zander said. The plants were up to 4 feet tall and about a month away from harvest, Zander said.
No one was arrested in the raid.
Agents received a call about the illegal growing operation Tuesday by a rancher who spotted it, Zander said. The garden was located just outside of San Benito County – in Santa Clara County – east of Pacheco Peak, Zander said.
Wednesday’s bust brings the total number of marijuana plants seized by UNET this year to 21,845.
Colla has said the lack of rain this season has affected marijuana growing in San Benito County. More than 50,000 marijuana plants were confiscated in both 2005 and in 2006, UNET reported.
The marijuana growing season in San Benito County runs through the end of September.
