Over $20 Million Worth Of Marijuana Found In Southern Oregon

Oregon authorities have been busting several illegal marijuana operations lately. These grows would hold millions of dollars worth of weed, and one operation unveiled in Southern Oregon was no exception.

The Klamath Falls Police Department says the Basin Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team (BINET) served a search warrant at a large warehouse in downtown Klamath Falls on Tuesday (October 19).

BINET and other law enforcement agencies reportedly found drying and processed marijuana in the building. Authorities say its black market street value of over $20 million.

Twenty-eight workers and some children were found inside tents and temporary living quarters, officials say. It turns out the parents were working as trimmers for the illegal production. Child welfare agents reportedly responded to the scene for the kids.

Klamath Falls Police said this operation was part of a larger drug trafficking ring operating in Oregon. The 20,550-square-foot warehouse initially peddled itself as a "hemp production" facility, but "on site testing of the drying marijuana product in the warehouse indicated it was high THC marijuana and not hemp," officers claim.

Officers say a facilitator was cited for felony unlawful manufacture of marijuana. More charges for other suspects will be sent to the Klamath County District Attorney's Office.

As for the more than 17,000 pounds of illegal marijuana, it reportedly was destroyed at a local waste facility.