Dozens of Trafficked Migrants Discovered at California Illegal Marijuana Grow Operation – Medical Marijuana Program Connection

By Jill McLaughlin

The Merced County Sheriff’s Department in California discovered dozens of migrants July 26 living in “horrible” conditions and working as apparent indentured laborers at an illegal marijuana grow operation.

Sheriff’s investigators determined the approximately 60 people found were victims of human trafficking but were not allowed to detain them because of the state’s sanctuary-state policies.

“These folks are indentured,” Merced County Sheriff Vernon Warnke said in a video posted to social media Thursday. “They owe money. And yet, here we are at an illegal processing center, and they’re scared to death.”

The sheriff’s enforcement team visited the location on the 900 block of Vassar Avenue in Merced, about 110 miles southeast of San Francisco, Wednesday afternoon.

During a search, deputies discovered about 60 people working at the site, processing several hundreds of pounds of finished marijuana product, according to the sheriff’s department. Authorities additionally confiscated several hundred pounds of illegal marijuana at the location.

The migrants paid thousands of dollars to be transported…