Fairfield police bust illegal in-home marijuana grows, seizing 8K plants and issuing $4M in fines
FAIRFIELD -- Local and state law enforcement agencies in Fairfield are putting illegal pot problems front and center.
Since the summer, they've seized more than 8,000 illegal marijuana plants at in-home grow operations that they deemed were dangerous to surrounding neighbors.
"We did not realize there was that many in the town until we started fully unraveling the investigation and working with multiple agencies," said Jeremy Profitt with the Fairfield Police Department.
The agencies working to crack down on the growing problem include Fairfield police, city code enforcement and the State of California cannabis control board.
"Basically, what we are looking for is these illegal grows, illegal businesses causing harm in our community," said Profitt.
Two homes were busted recently in the neighborhood surrounding Fairfield's Gary Falati Park. Another six were busted in neighborhoods off of the North Texas Street corridor near Arroyo Drive, Americano Way and Isabella Way.
"We've seen them buy almost $1 million homes, tear the whole house down and build a grow inside of it. We've seen older homes, the same thing. There's no 'my neighborhood is safe from this,' " said Profitt.
These illegal marijuana grow houses, in most cases, are so advanced that they can even mask the odor so they're basically undetectable to homes nearby.
But hidden in plain sight are lurking dangers that resulted in all eight of those homes being red-tagged.
They uncovered wires causing electrical overload, open gas lines, mold and toxic chemicals, flammable and explosive operations right next door to neighbors who had no idea.
"We had three homes deemed so unsafe that we had to abate those, meaning the city had to have a private contractor come in and gut the homes," said Profitt. "They're building without construction permits. What we've recently been seeing is gas lines connected throughout two stories using PVC pipe and duct tape."
This summer, Fairfield police started to see an uptick in complaints, which prompted the investigations. In bust after bust since, they've seized more than 8,200 illegal plants, racking up more than $4 million in fines.
The pot pop-ups at eight Fairfield homes were all connected to Chinese nationals, according to police.
"Every nook and cranny of the house becomes a grow space, so there's a lot of different hazards compacted into that," said Profitt.
People 21 and older can legally grow up to six plants in their California homes. Anything more than that is a crime.
These homes police raided averaged a thousand plants each.
Business leaders who operate legal cannabis dispensaries like Embarc in Fairfield say these illegal operations hurt their bottom line and the industry as a whole.
"Every day as a legal operator, it's important to recognize that the illegal operations, the illegal market, is still detrimental to the success of the legal market," said Devon Wardlow, vice president of public affairs for Embarc. "I think it really is a testament to the city and local law enforcement, the efforts they are doing to protect this industry."
Wardlow said they are grateful for the crackdown on the crime, noting that the high number of plants seized does not necessarily surprise her.
"We do not want to see individuals consume illegal cannabis because it's not tested. It does not go through the rigorous processes that the product in a legal store would," said Wardlow.
Wardlow adds that every step a city and law enforcement can take to protect the legal industry is a step in the right direction to help support the legal market that's still in its infancy in California and growing.
"Our goal is to be 100% free of illegal operations. Period," said Profitt.
Fairfield police are asking neighbors who witness any suspicious activity near their homes to contact the department so they can check it out.