The Kern County Sheriff’s Office busted three Chinese nationals on Tuesday for operating an illegal underground cannabis grow operation near Boron.
Law enforcement executed a search warrant on the operation in the desert area north of Boron.
The big picture: The three Chinese nationals arrested were Qingxue Zhang, 57, Siyun Cao, 32, and Xiyyu Zou, 53.
- Two of the suspects attempted to flee when law enforcement executed the search warrant, but they were quickly apprehended.
By the numbers: Law enforcement eradicated 17,650 cannabis plants from the underground grow rooms.
- Officers also seized 1,069 pounds of processed marijuana.
Go deeper: According to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, the operation consisted of numerous buried seatrains with sophisticated electrical and ventilation systems that operated off a large diesel-powered commercial generator.
- Kern County Code Compliance officers found numerous code violations and major safety concerns with the operation.
- The three Chinese nationals were booked into the Kern County Sheriff’s Office Lerdo Justice Facility.
