SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY — San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Deputies responded to a burglary in progress at a cannabis processing plant in an undisclosed property in North County. According to deputies, witnesses reported seeing at least seven suspects running out of the business with bags of cannabis.
When Deputies arrived, the suspects had already fled the scene. Deputies discovered at least 500 pounds of processed and packaged marijuana had been taken as well as a safe that had been broken into by the suspects. The loss was estimated at $500,000.
A Detective with the Sheriff’s Cannabis Compliance Team conducted a follow-up investigation and discovered a similar crime had occurred in San Jose. The Detective contacted the San Jose Police Department and then the California Department of Justice as part of a multi-agency investigation into a crew of Oakland gang members who were hitting cannabis-related facilities. Last week, the state DOJ arrested and charged 22 people for these crimes which included 13 people involved in the northern San Luis Obispo County burglary.
The suspects are thought to be responsible for at least 15 dispensary burglaries in nine different California counties which resulted in a loss of more than $1 million and almost a thousand pounds of cannabis.
