DEPUTIES MAKE BIG POT BUST IN TULARE

An anonymous tip led to Tulare County Sheriff's detectives removing
$4.8 million worth of marijuana plants from a Tulare canal Tuesday
afternoon, deputies reported Wednesday.

Detectives from the Sheriff's Tactical Enforcement Personnel Team
received the call at about 11:30 a.m., leading them to a marijuana
garden along a canal west of Road 148 and a quarter mile south of Avenue 148.

When the dust settled, detectives eradicated 1,203 marijuana plants
from the canal. If allowed to grow to maturity, the plants would have
had an estimated street value of a little more than $4.81 million,
according to a department news release.

Deputies are still searching for who planted the garden, and are
looking to see if it is connected to recent marijuana garden busts in
the Visalia area, the department said.