List of cannabis seizures

Last updated

This is a list of cannabis seizures notable for record-setting size or social precedent.

OperationAgencyLocationYearAmount and form*Notes
U.S.–Colombia joint operation Guajira Peninsula, Colombia1978570+ tonsLargest drug seizure to date by a factor of 10, worth $200 million. [1] [2]
Night Train Seizure US Coast Guard Atlantic Ocean near Florida197854 tons (108,000 lb)
US Coast GuardPacific Ocean 150 miles from San Diego198426,000 poundsYacht Arrakis; largest on West Coast to date. [3]
Project PacificoU.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
and Mexican authorities		Chihuahua, Northern Mexico198410,000 tons (20,000,000 pounds)Series of raids in Mexico, some unharvested plants, some harvested and baled. Seizure included 45 trucks able to carry 30 tons of bales each. [2]
US Coast Guard Cutter Roger B Taney (WHEC-37)Atlantic Ocean1985160 TonsTug and Barge [4]
Cornbread Mafia seizure Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (investigator)10 Midwest states, based in Kentucky 1989182 tons (364,000 pounds) valued at $350 millionOver 70 individuals indicted operating 29 farms, [5] [6] [7] called by federal prosecutors the "largest domestic marijuana producing organization in the nation." [8]
Operation Green Sweep US Army/National Guard/Bureau of Land Management King Range National Conservation Area, Emerald Triangle, California19901400 plantsFirst time active-duty troops engaged in counterdrug activities inside US borders. [9]
Operation Conquistador DEA Caribbean (multiple)2000362 tonnesDEA coordinated 26 country effort; [10] largest in this table by weight.
Operation Keymer Local policeCambridge UK200654 kg (119 lb)
Operation Imperial Emperor DEA California–Mexico200727,229 poundsOther drugs and $45 million cash seized. [3] [11]
Federal/localHouston200719,000 pounds [3] Seized drugs were being transported in school buses. [12]
Norwegian cannabis raids National Criminal Investigation Service Norway2007–2008500 cannabis plants on a single farm, over 40 individual raidsOne of Norway's largest narcotics cases. [13]
Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan Kahdahar, Afghanistan2008260 tons hashish
520,000 lb†		Said to be largest drug seizure in history at the time, worth $400 million. [14] [15]
US interagency?Queens200950,000 pounds BC bud, street value $150 million. [3]
Operation Save our SierraState/FederalFresno, California2009330,000 plantsEstimated value $1 billion, second largest in this table. [3] [16]
RCMP Montreal20108 tons (16,000 pounds) hashishFound in abandoned trailer. [17]
Operation Deliverance DEA Mexico–US201069 tonsBilateral [10]
Cowabungle raid?Federal policeTijuana2010105 tonsLargest seizure in Mexico in years. [18]
Mexican Army Baja California desert, Mexico2011120 tons of marijuana, worth 1.8 billion pesos ($160 million)Largest plantation ever seized in Mexico; over 300-acre (120 ha) open-air farm one mile from federal highway, possibly run by Sinaloa cartel [19] [20]
Operation Kruz Control Federal interagency/localArizona2012–201327,000 poundsYear-long operation.
CBP Calexico border crossing201335,000 poundsLargest seizure at US-Mexico border. [21] [22]
Operation Everglades CBP Chokoloskee 1983–1984500,000 lbsLargest seizure at the time [23] [2]
Local policeGoodrich, Texas2014100,000 plantsLargest seizure in Texas history at the time. [24]
Operation Weed Eaters and Operation Thunderstorm National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Akure, Ondo State January–June 201434,030 kilograms (75,020 lb) [25] Largest single seizure by agency in Ondo State to date, valued at 364 million naira. [25]
Ondo State and elsewhere in Nigeria45,875 kilograms (101,137 lb) [26]
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Otay Mesa port of entry, San Diego County, California201527,000 poundsSecond-largest seizure at US–Mexico border. [22]
Federal/localLipscomb County, Texas2015109,000 plantsNew state record. [27] [28]
Hong Kong Police Force Hong Kong2017180 kg (400 lb)Largest seizure in HK in a decade. [29]
DuPage County Metropolitan Enforcement Group DuPage County, Illinois (Chicago area)20217,688 pounds of cannabis, 406 pounds of cannabis edibles, and 6,891 THC vaping cartridgesLargest seizure in DuPage County "in memory", estimated to be worth $22 million. [30]
Operation Trojan Shield U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation
Australian Federal Police
New Zealand Police
Europol 		202122 tons [31] Enabled by ANOM standalone encryption devices used by criminals but secretly supplied by FBI. [32] [33]
Antelope Valley eradication operationLos Angeles County Sheriff
other southern California sheriffs
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
California National Guard
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration 		2021375,000 cannabis plants and 33,480 pounds of harvested marijuanaLargest seizure ever in Los Angeles County, worth over one billion dollars. [34] [35]
Oregon State Police White City, Oregon 2021500,000 pounds of harvested marijuanaMore than 100 people were arrested along with the seizure marijuana worth approximately $500 million. [36]
Operation Caribbe Canadian Armed Forces Caribbean2006–2021 or laterOver 6.7 tonnes of seized cannabis, 105 tonnes of cocaine as of 2021 [37] Included operations by attack submarines HMCS Corner Brook in 2008 and 2011, [38] and HMCS Victoria in 2014. [39]
Federal-state-tribal interagency Navajo Reservation near Shiprock, New Mexico2020260,000 plantsOver 1,000 greenhouses raided; probably a mix of hemp and THC-bearing cannabis, employed many non-US persons. [40] [41]
Guardia Civil and Policía Foral Spain2022415,000 cannabis plantsWorth an estimated $108 million, called largest cannabis farm in Europe with 166 acres (67 ha) under cultivation. [42]
Yamhill County Sheriff deputies and volunteers, aided by Oregon State Police, Port of Portland PDX Task Force, Newberg-Dundee Police Department, Polk County Sheriff's Office, and Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue Yamhill County, Oregon outside Newberg (Portland area)2022Over 38 tons of harvested marijuanaLargest seizure in county history; farm unlicensed by Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission processing for illegal out-of-state sale; firearms and $80,000 in foil-wrapped cash also seized; evidence of wire transfers to Mexican state of Michoacán. Cannabis valued at $76.5 million in Oregon or $269 million on US East Coast. [43]

*Assumed dried leaf or flower material unless otherwise specified.
†May not be independently verified

References

  1. ↑ "Colombia raids net 574 tons of marijuana", The Globe and Mail , Toronto, Ontario, p. 3, May 1, 1978
  2. 1 2 3 Brinkley, Joel (November 23, 1984). "Vast, undreamed-of drug use feared". The New York Times . Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "America's 5 biggest pot busts", The Week , June 17, 2010
  4. ↑ "Associated Press October 1985". Associated Press .
  5. ↑ "Pioneer Press: Search Results".
  6. ↑ "Schenectady Gazette - Google News Archive Search".
  7. ↑ "Lawrence Journal-World - Google News Archive Search".
  8. ↑ "Kentucky New Era - Google News Archive Search".
  9. ↑ Bishop, Katherine (August 10, 1990). "Military Takes Part in Drug Sweep And Reaps Criticism and a Lawsuit". The New York Times . Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  10. 1 2 Kleiman & Hawdon 2011, p. 212.
  11. ↑ Richard Marosi; Tracy Wilkinson (July 28, 2011), "Suspicion in Mexico's Sinaloa cartel", The Los Angeles Times
  12. ↑ IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT AGENTS, LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES SEIZE 19,000 POUNDS OF MARIJUANA, US Fed News Service, March 5, 2007, archived from the original on 2017-04-28
  13. ↑ "Femti cannabis-gartnere fengslet" [Fifty cannabis gardeners imprisoned]. Dagsavisen (in Norwegian). February 27, 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-11-06.
  14. ↑ "World's biggest drug seizure in Afghanistan", Daily Telegraph, June 11, 2008
  15. ↑ Afghans' 260-ton hashish bust could be record: Worth tops $400 million, NATO says, Associated Press, June 11, 2008 – via NBC News
  16. ↑ Nick Valencia (July 23, 2009), $1 billion in marijuana seized in California, CNN
  17. ↑ Nearly 8 tons of hashish seized in Canada, NBC News, September 15, 2010
  18. ↑ "Authorities seize 105 tons of marijuana in northern Mexico". CNN .
  19. ↑ "Army discovers largest marijuana plantation ever in Mexico". Associated Press. July 14, 2011.
  20. ↑ "58 held in Mexico's biggest marijuana farm bust". Associated Press. July 15, 2011 – via Deseret News.
  21. ↑ "Feds seize 15 tons of marijuana in second largest weed bust ever at a U.S. Border crossing". March 3, 2015.
  22. 1 2 Andie Adams (February 27, 2015). "Record-Breaking Bust: 15 Tons of Pot Seized at Otay Mesa Port, the seizure has an estimated street value of about $18.96 million". NBC San Diego.
  23. ↑ "Florida town struggles with drugs". The New York Times. October 7, 1984. The first part of the investigation, termed Operation Everglades, took place in July 1983... A second phase came in June of this year when agents made more arrests.
  24. ↑ East Texas marijuana fields valued at $175 million, Associated Press, July 30, 2014 – via The Cannabist (Denver Post)
  25. 1 2 Ben Ezeamalu (March 13, 2015). "NDLEA makes "single largest" seizure of cannabis in Ondo". Premium Times . Nigeria.
  26. ↑ Oluwaseun Akingboye (June 16, 2019). "Marijuana: Controversies over Ondo's new 'gold mine'". The Guardian Sunday Magazine. Nigeria.
  27. ↑ "109K-plant marijuana bust could be largest of its kind in Texas history", Amarillo Globe-News, June 9, 2015
  28. ↑ "109K-plant marijuana bust could be largest of its kind in Texas history", Avalanche-Journal, Lubbock, June 10, 2015
  29. ↑ "Largest Hong Kong cannabis haul in 10 years nets 180kg worth HK$29 million", South China Morning Post , January 5, 2017
  30. ↑ "Police seize $22 million in marijuana in warehouse in Wood Dale, arrest a man they say shot at them during a chase". Chicago Tribune.
  31. ↑ Byron Tau; James Marson (June 8, 2021). "The FBI Secretly Ran the Anom Messaging Platform, Yielding Hundreds of Arrests in Global Sting". Wall Street Journal.
  32. ↑ "FBI secretly ran phone encryption program used by organized crime, global sting yields 800 arrests". USA Today. June 8, 2021.
  33. ↑ "FBI Targets Encrypted Platforms Used by Criminal Groups: Global Partners Announce Results of Innovative Operation Trojan Shield". Official website. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved 2021-06-08.
  34. ↑ Tori B. Powell (July 7, 2021). "$1.19 billion worth of marijuana seized in massive drug bust in California". CBS News.
  35. ↑ "Antelope Valley Marijuana Eradication Operation". July 7, 2021.
  36. ↑ Kale Williams (July 7, 2021). "State troopers seize half a million pounds of illegal marijuana in southern Oregon". The Oregonian/OregonLive.
  37. ↑ Julia Lennips (February 26, 2021). "Ships depart CFB Esquimalt for Operation Caribbe". Canadian Military Family.
  38. ↑ "Navy surveillance submarine returning to Victoria waters". Victoria News . June 14, 2021.
  39. ↑ "Royal Canadian Navy Submarines: Fleet Status". official website. Government of Canada. February 19, 2015. In September 2014, Victoria's crew received the Operational Service Medal for their successful participation in Operation CARIBBE, a US-led, multinational effort to interdict drug trafficking in the waters of the Caribbean Basin and the Eastern Pacific.
  40. ↑ "Details emerge from federal raid on Navajo-area farms". Associated Press. November 16, 2020.
  41. ↑ Ed Williams (September 24, 2020). "Chaos and cannabis: A massive hemp empire is accused of growing illegal marijuana and sowing violence on the Navajo reservation". Navajo Times .
  42. ↑ Josh Salisbury (April 14, 2022). "Police raid Europe's 'biggest cannabis farm' in Spain worth £83m". Evening Standard– via Yahoo! News.
  43. ↑ Gary Allen (October 19, 2022). "More than 38 tons of marijuana seized from farm near Newberg". The Newberg Graphic.

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