MEAD VALLEY - (INT) - During the 2014 harvest season, which ran from April to September, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigated and eradicated 75 outdoor marijuana grows.

These investigations, conducted by sheriff stations serving the unincorporated areas of the county and/or those in cities that contract with the sheriff, led to 90 felony arrests for the illegal cultivation of marijuana.

The Sheriff’s Department began identifying an increase in the number of outdoor marijuana grows in 2011, with a slight uptick each year. So far in 2015, the Sheriff’s Department has eradicated 36,700 marijuana plants, arrested 37 suspects for cultivation, and seized more than 254 pounds of processed marijuana along with $78,000 in cash.

The Sheriff’s Department made 10 arrests in Mead Valley on April 30 in connection with the seizure and eradication of 816 mature marijuana plants.

The following suspects were arrested and booked into the Southwest Detention Center:

• Salvador Becerra, 51, of Mead Valley
• Martina Barajas, 43, of Mead Valley
• Jaquelina Kelly, 24, of Mead Valley
• Alejandro Verdusco, 27, of Mead Valley
• Ruffino Herrera, 19, of Mead Valley
• Joel Herrera, 25, of Oceanside
• Eredria Ortega, 44, of Mead Valley

They face charges on a range of criminal violations such as cultivation, drug possession, vehicle theft, child endangerment and weapons charges.

Story Date: May 7, 2015