One arrest, 520 plants seized at pot grow
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Mon, September 21, 7:24 PM

Mon, September 21, 7:24 PM


One man was arrested and 520 marijuana plants were chopped down as detectives from the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department Narcotics Unit raided a growing operation Sept. 10, on Nelligan Road.

According to Sgt. Glen Lawrence, of the Sheriff's Property Crimes Unit, the narcotics unit was acting on information it had received about the grow. It was a potentially profitable garden. In past busts, detectives have used the figure of $1,100 a plant to estimate the worth. With 520 plants, that would put their estimated value at $572,000.

Lawrence said that, as the detectives entered the growing operation, one man took off through the brush while a second man picked up a firearm. Detectives arrested Manuel Solorio Tafolla, 27, of Santa Rosa, and charged him with cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale and having a firearm in the commission of a felony. Tafolla is being held in the Sonoma County Jail on an ICE, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, hold.

http://www.sonomanews.com/articles/2009 ... 562442.txt