Wednesday, Sheriff Alex Villanueva announced the results of a massive bust last month that shut down hundreds of illegal marijuana grow sites in the Antelope Valley north of Los Angeles.

Officials seized more than 16 tons of harvested marijuana from illegal grows in the Antelope Valley area last month in what L.A. County Sheriff’s Department officials called a “historic” bust.

The street value of the seized plants is estimated at $1.19 billion, and more than 400 personnel from multiple departments and agencies served 205 locations with search warrants during the days-long operation.

Authorities seized 65 vehicles — including two water trucks — $28,000 in cash and made 131 arrests, Sheriff Alex Villanueva said during a news conference announcing the bust Wednesday.

The 16 tons of already harvested marijuana was in addition to an estimated 370,000 plants which hadn’t been harvested yet. Villanueva said an estimated 150 million gallons of water had been used just for one harvest. “There’s four harvests a year, so do the math there,” he added. The growers steal the water from fire hydrants and wells which is the reason they had two water trucks.

Most of the 181 people arrested were undocumented, which isn’t surprising since this is considered a cartel operation.

But perhaps the most eye-popping figure the Sheriff revealed yesterday was the number of illegal grow sites that were identified in the area that haven’t yet been broken up. In 2020, aerial surveys of the Antelope Valley identified 150 illegal grow sites. This year a similar survey showed the number had surged to 500. As mentioned above, the bust last month shut down 205. Those were demolished and the plants destroyed. But that means about 60 percent of the sites are still there.

This guy does what he calls flying journalism. Back in May, one month before the bust, he flew around the area in a plane and pointed out all the pot grows visible from the air. He says he stopped counting at 100.

In order to guard these illegal sites, the cartels breed pit bulls. So during the raid last month authorities found nearly 200 dogs being kept in rough conditions:

California legalized the use of marijuana in 2018. But the illegal weed being grown in the Antelope Valley by cartels is cheaper because it relies on stolen land and water and because the sellers don’t pay taxes. The bust was initially reported last month but Wednesday the Sheriff gave a press conference spelling out the details of what is now the largest drug bust in the county’s history. Here’s a local news report from this week including a bit of Villanueva’s press conference: