Guns, thousands of pot plants seized in Morgan Hill bust

Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputies spent most of Wednesday in an unincorporated section of the county removing an illegal marijuana grow operation. 

Officers swarmed a house and surrounding property in the early morning hours on Dougherty Avenue in Morgan Hill. Officials say the operation was a search of a suspected marijuana grow operation. Neighbors say they heard law personnel move in with explosive force.

“I was scared. I thought when they did the flash bomb thing, I wasn’t warned. I was outside. I ran inside the house and hid. I thought it was gunshots,” said Peg Horan, who lives across the street from the scene.

Officials brought large weapons, the bomb squad, and a bomb robot as they moved on to the property that sits mid-block on Dougherty Avenue between Miramonte and Live Oak. Officials say their Marijuana Eradication Team recovered thousands of marijuana plants and 21 firearms. 

Twelve people are currently detained in connection with the operation. Green houses dot the landscape in this unincorporated section of Santa Clara County. One neighbor says this isn’t the first time someone has been accused of running an illegal grow operation.

“Over here there’s been skunk weed grown in the past. Down the street there was a meth lab for a while. I guess people think they can get away with whatever out here,” said neighbor Bill Hughes. “But no, not a good idea.”

Some residents living closer to the scene say the people who’ve been detained are friendly, good neighbors, and they’re sorry for the allegations and the small arsenal law enforcement brought, that forced the closure of their street for most of the day.

“It’s scary and at the same time sad. These are my neighbors that I’ve known for years. So, like a said, they’ve never been bad to us,” said Horan.

The identities of the dozen people detained have not been released. Sheriff’s officials have not said how many of those people face charges, or how long this illegal operation had been up and running.