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Douglas County narcotics team busts several large illegal marijuana operations

A field of marijuana plants, with a wooded hill in the background.
Douglas Interagency Narcotics Team
Illegal sites can produce up to hundreds of millions of dollars worth of black market marijuana.

This month, law enforcement in Douglas County shut down five illegal marijuana operations, including two of the largest sites ever seen in the county.

According to the Douglas Interagency Narcotics Team, or DINT, more than 220,000 marijuana plants were seized from two sites in Dillard. The other locations—in Azalea, Yoncalla, and Oakland—netted nearly 12,000 more, plus nearly 800 pounds of processed marijuana and edibles.

DINT said these illegal sites violate local laws and often cause ecological damage by using banned chemicals and overusing un-permitted water, straining local water supply. Investigators have also uncovered dangerous working conditions and human trafficking.

Black market marijuana is sold in Oregon and shipped across the country and the world. Many sites are run by foreign organized crime rings. DINT said it’s found operations managed by groups from China, Russia, Mexico, Laos, and other places.

Eight people were arrested in this month’s searches. Investigations are ongoing, and more arrests are expected.

Karen Richards joined KLCC as a volunteer reporter in 2012, and became a freelance reporter at the station in 2015. In addition to news reporting, she’s contributed to several feature series for the station, earning multiple awards for her reporting.
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