No arrest has been made after authorities destroyed millions of dollars worth of marijuana discovered at a remote area of the Sequoia National Park, the National Park Service announced Friday.
Local, state and federal officials on Wednesday raided an illegal cultivation site within the designated wilderness of the park and found 3,500 marijuana plants valued at $5,250,000, the agency said.
The cultivators caused major damage, including the thinning or removal of vegetation, and diverted about 10,000 gallons of water daily, according to Park Service officials. Crews also reported finding large amounts of trash, fertilizers and pesticides.
NPS did not provide any information about possible suspects, saying the case remained under investigation.
Authorities said they have eradicated nearly 300,000 plants, worth about $850 million, at the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks over the past 14 years.
More than 800,000 acres of the two parks, located in the southern Sierra Nevada in Central California, are designated wilderness, NPS said. A fire in July burned about 34 acres of the John Krebs wilderness area at Sequoia National Park.