Linn County detectives find large marijuana grow

At 10 a.m. on Aug. 12, 2014 Linn County Detectives arrested Louis Alfonso Arellano-Arellano, 47, of Yakima, Wash., while he was tending to a large scale marijuana grow operation, according to a news release from Linn County Sheriff Bruce Riley.

The grow operation was located on private timber land owned by Weyerhaeuser Company Inc. in the Lacomb area.

Detectives determined Arellano-Arellano was living in and tending to the marijuana grow site. This large marijuana growing operation caused damage to the surrounding land and to the local streams by the cutting of small trees and brush, depositing trash, and littering the area with chemicals and irrigation tubing.

Detectives seized 1,874 marijuana plants from three different growing plots. The grow site contained a hybrid marijuana strain. This type of marijuana plant produces a much smaller and thinner plant by maturing at a faster rate, making the growing season much shorter. The estimated value of the marijuana plants if allowed to reach maturity is approximately $1.8 million.

Arellano-Arellano was lodged in the Linn County Jail and was charged with Unlawful Manufacture of Marijuana, Unlawful Possession of Marijuana, Criminal Mischief II, Criminal Trespass II, and Littering in or near waterways.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement determined Arellano-Arellano is in the United States illegally and therefore has placed a hold on him.