Illegal pot cultivation site removed from Sequoia National Park

Over 8,000 marijuana plants were removed March 28 from an illegal cultivation site inside Sequoia National Park, the National Park Service said.

Law enforcement park rangers removed a total of 8,816 plants, worth over $22 million at maturity, with help from the Tulare County Sheriff’s Department, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bureau of Land Management and the Department of Homeland Security, spokeswoman Dana Dierkes said. Park rangers had detected the cultivation site a few days earlier.

Damage to the area from marijuana cultivation included digging terraces into the hillside for potential planting of marijuana and diverting the natural flow of a nearby creek, Dierkes said. Rangers also found irrigation lines, campsites and kitchen areas.

No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing, Dierkes said. Anyone with information on illegal cultivation on national park land can call the park service at 888-677-2746.

This story was originally published April 14, 2016 at 7:48 PM with the headline "Illegal pot cultivation site removed from Sequoia National Park."