Three arrested in pot grow

Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department officials arrested three men Friday in connection with an illegal marijuana grow operation in Sheep Ranch.

Emilio Baldobinos, 42, of Washington, Miguel Penalosa Bustos, 60, of Ceres, and Francisco Javier Flores, 42, of San Jose, were booked into the Calaveras County Jail at 5:24 p.m. Friday on suspicion of marijuana cultivation and possessing marijuana for sale, according to Calaveras County Jail records.
 

They were arrested on the 9000 block of Sheep Ranch Road in Sheep Ranch.

Bustos was later released on $35,000 bail. As of Monday afternoon, the other two suspects remained in custody in lieu of $35,000 bail.

It’s believed the three men worked for the person who leased the land where an illegal marijuana grow operation was discovered, said Sgt. Tracy Busby, head of the Calaveras Narcotics Enforcement Unit.

On Friday, Calaveras agents with assistance from Department of Justice Campaign Against Marijuana Planting agents, Bureau of Land Management rangers and California Department of Fish and Game officers, executed several search warrants on multiple properties in the area of Sheep Ranch Road and Fricot City Road, a Calaveras Sheriff’s statement said.

The three suspects were found at the grow site, on a secluded 300-acre piece of property, said the lead investigator, Deputy Steve Avila.

At that site, 964 marijuana plants were seized and eradicated, Busby said. Street value was estimated at $964,000, a Sheriff’s statement said.

Another grow site was eradicated on Fricot City Road on property belonging to the Bureau of Land Management.

The growing site, located in a steep canyon, was discovered through an aerial observation flight of the area, a Sheriff’s Department statement said. No suspects were located at the site, according to the Sheriff’s Department. Officials eradicated 2,789 plants with an estimated street value of $2.7 million, a Sheriff’s Department statement said.