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VICTORVILLE – Four search warrants were served in the City of Victorville and in Oak Hills on Friday.

During the warrant searches, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department – Marijuana Enforcement Team located illegal marijuana grows at all of the locations. During the searches, over 4600 marijuana plants were seized. Authorities do not believe that any of the locations were connected in any way.

Three of the locations were found to have tampered main power lines in order to bypass the electrical meter which was installed by the utility company. This allowed, not only the theft of utilities, but helped them to not raise red flags due to the high electrical usage. The loss to Southern California Edison is estimated to be in the thousands of dollars.

At one of the locations, a suspect was located inside the home and was arrested without incident. The home was a site of a previous marijuana grow. The suspect will face charges of both utility theft and marijuana cultivation.

The City of Victorville prohibits large scale or the commercial growing of marijuana. The County of San Bernardino has an ordinance prohibiting Commercial Cannabis Activity which includes growing marijuana outdoors. The Sheriff’s Gangs/Narcotics Division will continue to enforce California’s medical marijuana law as well as the San Bernardino County ordinance regarding marijuana cultivation and distribution. New state regulations regarding the cultivation, sales and delivery of medicinal and recreational marijuana for commercial purposes begin on January 1, 2018. These local ordinances are not expected to change.

Persons found to be violating the state marijuana law and county ordinance are subject to fines, prosecution, and seizure of property. Property owners who are aware their tenants are growing marijuana on their rental properties in violation of state law and local ordinances may also be subject to civil or criminal sanctions. Property owners are encouraged to contact the local law enforcement or code compliance agency where their property is located to confirm whether cultivating marijuana is prohibited or allowed under specific regulations.