California officials have announced that they seized more than 63,000 pounds of illicit cannabis during enforcement actions between April and June, according to a press release from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.
The operations were carried out by California’s Unified Cannabis Enforcement Task Force (UCETF), which was established by Newsom in 2022 to coordinate state, local, and federal enforcement against the illicit cannabis market. During the three-month period, officials seized 63,204 pounds of illegal cannabis worth more than $104 million, eradicated 89,257 cannabis plants, confiscated 17 firearms, seized $220,923 in cash, and made 24 arrests. Enforcement actions spanned 10 counties.
Since the task force was launched, California officials claimed UCETF-coordinated operations have seized and destroyed more than 841,000 pounds of illicit cannabis, including 1.3 million plants. The task force has served more than 750 search warrants across 29 counties, leading to 100 arrests and the seizure of more than $2.8 million in cash and more than 250 firearms.
The largest recent enforcement action took place from May 14 to June 3 across Tulare, Kern, and Los Angeles counties. Led by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the operation included 26 search warrants at illicit cannabis sites, where investigators found environmental violations and banned, unregistered, or foreign-labeled pesticides at or suspected at 13 cultivation sites.
The counties most impacted by enforcement during the quarter were Kern, Alameda, Butte, Los Angeles, and Stanislaus counties. Officials also cited major operations in Riverside, Los Angeles, Butte, and Ventura counties involving illegal cultivation, environmental violations, firearms, and suspected organized crime.
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