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Authorities seized over 6,500 plants with a value of over $9 million during Tuesday's operation.
(Yamhill County Sheriff's Office)
Manuel Madrigal. (Multnomah County Sheriff's Office)
A two-month investigation into an illegal marijuana growing operation in rural Yamhill County resulted in an arrest and the seizure of millions of dollars worth of pot early Tuesday, authorities said.
The operation was found in Dayton on wetlands near the Willamette River and was part of a Mexican drug trafficking organization, the Yamhill County Sheriff's Office said in a news release Wednesday morning.
The Yamhill County Interagency Narcotics Team, along with other local agencies, seized over 6,500 plants worth more than $9 million. Oregon State Police SWAT was called on to provide protection for the agencies during the seizure.
Authorities arrested Manuel Madrigal, 42, after officers found him camping out in the gardens in a living area - "complete with a kitchen" - hidden underneath a tarp. Madrigal has a San Antonio, Texas, address and a history of previous drug arrests. He now faces federal drug trafficking charges and was transferred to U.S. Marshal custody in Portland, authorities said.
This site was the first large-scale operation found in the county in several years.
Sheriff Tim Svenson said in the release that even though marijuana is legal in certain quantities in Oregon, authorities must remain diligent as there "is still a profit to be made in marijuana by these illegal organizations."
-- Francesca Fontana
503-294-4009