Huge Drug Sweeps in Grant, Adams, Franklin County Net 41K Pounds of Illegal Pot

One of the biggest was back in August near Ritzville, but there have been others. Now officials say a huge haul of illegal pot has been taken after breaking up dozens of pot grows.

Grant, Franklin and Adams County officials along with the DEA and others, served 27 search warrants in August and September at various locations. They found illegal growing operations in at least 10 locations, arrested 24 people. They also seized 56 illegal weapons and what was described as a "tremendous" amount of ammunition. Some of the ammo was for automatic weapons.

At least 41,000 lbs. of illegal pot plants and product were also seized, according to Yaktrinews.com

Besides elaborate irrigation systems found in these areas, officials also found a lot of hazardous chemicals used in the growing operations.

Some officials are saying despite the legalization of marijuana in Washington state, they haven't seen a large drop in illegal growing operations. That was one of the selling points for I-502 especially by the ACLU. They claimed once pot was legal, it would put a severe crimp in the Black Market. Apparently it hasn't happened.