California Sheriff Recounts Horrors at Cartel-Run Cannabis Farms Amid Officer Shortage

The Merced County Sheriff’s Department in California discovered several migrants who are human trafficking victims living in “horrible” conditions and working as apparent indentured laborers at an illegal marijuana grow operation in Merced, Calif., on July 26, 2023. Courtesy of Merced County Sheriff’s Department

The illegal growing of marijuana in Northern California, even as the state legalized the drug for personal use less than a decade ago, continues to be of concern to some law enforcement agencies who say cartel-run cannabis farms are one of the main threats to public safety.

In Mendocino County, home to 90,000 residents and more than 3,500 square miles, as many as 4,000 to 5,000 illegal cannabis sites this year alone have been recorded, according to local Sheriff Matt Kendall.