Man sentenced to five years for illegal grow operation in Los Padres National Forest.

In December 2024, Jacinto Correa Cruz, 56, pleaded guilty in federal court to setting up a large-scale, illegal cannabis grow operation in the Los Padres National Forest. 

On April 29, Correa Cruz was sentenced to 60 months—five years—in federal prison for his role in the illegal operation, which damaged federally managed, sensitive wildlife habitat in what is known as the “Ventana Complex,” located in the Ventana Wilderness region of the forest. He was convicted on two felony counts: depredation of federal lands, and manufacture of and possession with intent to manufacture and distribute marijuana.  

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Eumi K. Lee ordered Correa Cruz, a Mexican national, to pay $35,074 in restitution and sentenced him to three years of supervised release. According to court documents, the operation is considered one of the largest illegal marijuana cultivation sites ever found on federal land.

The operation involved about 10,000 marijuana plants and six cultivation sites, which diverted and used approximately 33,780 gallons of water a day in an area that was experiencing severe drought conditions. Environmental damage assessments found highly toxic and illegal chemicals, including the banned insecticides carbofuran and methamidophos, and the rodenticide diphacinone, in the soil and water, according to prosecutors.

Law enforcement also discovered a camp area with a tent, sleeping bags, and a kitchen area with thousands of pounds of trash and dead animal parts. Fixing the environmental damage to this area cost over $92,540 per site and required a multi-step process spanning over a year.

The Ventana Complex is a federally protected area known as a top biodiversity hotspot and home to more threatened and endangered species than any other national forest in California, regularly used by tagged California condors, a critically endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.

The initial investigation into the Ventana Complex came after the 2020 Dolan Fire, which was ignited by a marijuana grower at another illegal marijuana cultivation site located in the same region of the Los Padres National Forest. That fire killed one firefighter and 12 condors, burned 125,000 acres of forest, and cost at least $62 million to contain. The investigation later revealed that the Ventana Complex included at least seven interconnected illegal grows between 2021 and 2022.

The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the U.S. Forest Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.