Illegal Assault Rifles, 124 Pounds Weed Found By Sheriff's Office

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — The Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office said it discovered more than 1,300 pounds of cannabis, four illegal assault rifles, five rifles and three handguns while searching sites linked to an illegal butane hash oil, or honey oil, lab.

Hash oil is a highly concentrated form of the psychoactive chemical found in weed, tetrahydrocannabinol, and is made by a chemical process involving butane. Production of hash oil can be very dangerous and explosive.

Detectives searched a Watsonville home on Hangar Way Thursday and found more than 1,200 pounds of cannabis in a moving truck, plus 341 cannabis plants, four illegal assault rifles, three other rifles, two handguns, $50,200 in cash and an electrical bypass to steal power for the illegal growing operation, according to a Santa Cruz County press release.

Investigators followed up Friday at a related site in the 900 block of Browns Valley Road, Corralitos, linked to a hash oil lab, and found two rifles, a handgun, hash oil, 124 pounds of cannabis and illegal vape cartridges, according to the press release. Detectives suspected that the lab had been recently removed, possibly while they served the Thursday search warrant.

The investigation comes after the search of a Live Oak lab last month that prompted evacuations of nearby homes and businesses. The Sheriff's Office said it seized 5,400 pounds of cannabis, five pounds of concentrated cannabis, 114 pounds of hash oil, hundreds of counterfeit vape pens and an ice cream freezer truck used to hold several thousand pounds of cannabis material.

The county said it will seek criminal charges against people tied to the labs.