The following is a press release issued by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:
Continuing to protect public safety, safeguard natural resources, and advance the integrity of the licensed cannabis market, the Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce (UCETF) seized more than $312 million in unlicensed cannabis during its first calendar year of operation.
Among the highlights from the operations in 2023 was the seizure of almost 190,000 pounds of illegal cannabis, the eradication of almost 318,000 plants and the seizure of 119 illegally-possessed firearms.
“California is effectively decreasing the illegal cannabis market by leveraging the strengths and knowledge of over 20 state agencies and departments alongside our local and federal partners. The UCETF’s progress in 2023 reflects California’s ongoing commitment to disrupting and dismantling illegal cannabis activity,” stated Director Nicole Elliott of Department of Cannabis Control. “I look forward to working with all our partners in 2024 to build on this progress.”
“Since its inception in late 2022, California’s Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce has hit the ground running with year-round operations that spanned from the Oregon state line all the way down to San Diego,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. “We’ve sent a strong message that illegal operations that harm our natural resources, threaten the safety of workers, and put consumer health at risk have no place in California. While there is more work to be done, we made progress last year and I look forward to going further alongside our county, state, and federal partners.”
The results of UCETF’s FY 2023 and Q4 2023 enforcement actions are:
| UCETF Operations | Q4 2023 | CY 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Search Warrants Served | 24 | 188 |
| Pounds of Cannabis Seized | 13,393.65 | 189,854.02 |
| Retail Value of Cannabis Products Seized | $22,294,571.41 | $312,880,014.35 |
| Cannabis Plants Eradicated | 20,320 | 317,834 |
| Firearms Seized | 26 | 119 |
| Money Seized | $35,195.25 | $223,809 |
In addition to releasing the Q4 and yearly totals for 2023, the taskforce announced the top 5 counties for enforcement activity (according to value of cannabis seized) in calendar year 2023. They are:
| County | Value of Cannabis Seized |
|---|---|
| Alameda | $77,828,338.50 |
| Siskiyou | $70,747,875.00 |
| Mendocino | $48,073,113.00 |
| Los Angeles | $28,317,139.69 |
| Kern | $21,578,438.25 |
Since inception, UCETF has seized $317,578,792.29 in unlicensed cannabis through 218 search warrants. The taskforce has also eradicated 347,321 plants and seized 128 firearms.
Created by Governor Newsom in 2022, the Unified Cannabis Enforcement Taskforce has been charged by the Governor to further align state efforts and increase cannabis enforcement coordination between state, local and federal partners. UCETF’s enforcement actions protect consumer and public safety, safeguard the environment, and deprive illegal cannabis operators and transnational criminal organizations of illicit revenue that harms consumers and undercuts the regulated cannabis market in California.
The taskforce is co-chaired by the Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and coordinated by the Homeland Security Division of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES). The taskforce includes more than two dozen local, state, and federal partners working together to disrupt the illegal cannabis market.
Guaranteed the cannabis busted was not worth Mendocino County was not worth 48 million
Guaranteed the cannabis busted in Mendocino County was not worth 48 million
You have no idea.
cop math. probably calculating it at like $5 a gram or something
$48M / say $300 a pound = 160000 pounds of cannabis seized by law enforcement. Plausible for Mendo.
they claim to have seized 190,000 lbs and are valuing that at $317,578,792 so thats $1671 a lbs
Maybe if they are using 2018 cannabis values…Cannabis per pound is closer to 200-300 a pound in 2023-2024.
It says they seized 189k pounds in the whole state, so they definitely didn’t seized 160k pounds in mendo.
There is another Mendo fever article saying they seized 7k pounds of black market cannabis from 29 Covelo sites. Covelo has hundreds (possibly thousands) of blacks market sites with varying sizes. These seizures are a drop in the bucket but Mendo is in the top three places they seize cannabis.
The article here is a total for the whole year, it includes the busts you are talking about.
The value they are putting on the seized cannabis is Inflated by alot.
It doesn’t matter if there is other weed being grown that didn’t get busted we are talking about the facts here. The value of the cannabis seized in Mendocino county was not worth 48 million
You are disputing their dollar ? value. The fact is it is a drop in the bucket even in pounds of cannabis. Law enforcement tends to inflate the value so they can say they did something and justify their bloated wages and pension.
I could believe the 0.6 lb average per plant translation of this article. The $318,000,000 / 190,000 lbs = $1640 per lb does seem excessive. I have seen this kind of exaggerating since 40 + years ago. I now see such figures as the norm for press releases that are also part promotions for ongoing funding sources. … I think $300 – $600 per lb would reflect a more accurate figure (while not having any specific references except conversations). … My Two Cents ?