Sheriff's 'Hammer Strike' yields 34 arrests, 33,000 marijuana plants throughout San Bernardino County

Last week marked among the most-sweeping spurts of raids aimed at cracking down on illegal cannabis farming in the High Desert in the more than two months since "Operation Hammer Strike" began.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said Saturday that since Nov. 1, its five specialized Marijuana Enforcement Teams had arrested 34 people and seized various lucrative black-market goods as a result of 26 search warrants served across nearly a dozen different areas — from Barstow to unincorporated Lucerne Valley, and to Rancho Cucamonga and the city of San Bernardino.

The total number of arrests last week marked the fourth highest in a single week since Hammer Strike began Aug. 30. Sheriff's spokesperson Mara Rodriguez said Monday that she believes five of these arrestees were booked into jail on suspicion of charges, though she could not confirm their names or the context of each booking at the time.

The black-market goods seized last week add to a voluminous total that the sheriff's department has been piling up. The seizures include:

"Investigators eradicated a total of 211 greenhouses found at these locations, as well as two indoor locations," the department said, adding that they "mitigated one electrical bypass" during the raids.

Various arrestees last week list residences that are far from the High Desert, or even California.

Two Massachusetts residents were arrested at the same location, the 45900 block of Bedford Road in unincorporated Newberry Springs.

Along with these individuals, two Los Angeles residents were also arrested in the raid at the Newberry Springs address.

Another noteworthy point is that 13 of the Hammer Strike arrestees last week are residents of Mexico. Ranging from ages of 19 to 56, all but one of them were men.

What marks the highest one-week total by far of non-U.S. residents arrested since the sheriff's cannabis crackdown began just over two months ago. The second highest came in week six, when officers listed eight of its Hammer Strike arrestees as Mexico residents. That's followed by week four, which saw six Mexican arrestees.

No publicly named Hammer Strike arrestees have been listed as a resident of a non-U.S. country other than Mexico since the operation began.

While it appears five people were booked into jail as a result of these raids, the vast majority of Hammer Strike arrestees have not seen jail time. They instead have received tickets and were released on the spot.

The sheriff's department says this is a result of California's Proposition 64, which took effect in January 2018. It reduced California's penalty for illegal cultivation of more than six cannabis plants from a felony to a misdemeanor that carries up to six months in jail and up to $500 in fines for most adults — whether a grow consists of seven or 700 plants.

It is unclear if any arrestees prior to last week had been booked as a result of Hammer Strike; in week two, for example, 41 people were arrested but all were cited and released.