Authorities seize 100+ cannabis plants, $155K from Scotts Valley home
More than 100 cannabis plants, and over $100,000 in cash were seized from a home in Scotts Valley.
The Special Investigations Unit of the Human Services Department had been investigating an individual for receiving welfare benefits in Santa Cruz County, while claiming no income despite living in a home recently purchased for $1.1 million.
Investigators determined the individual had been receiving welfare benefits for more than a decade in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties.
On March 14, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office conducted a search warrant in the 100 block of Station Ranch Road as part of an investigation into the welfare fraud case.
Investigators said they discovered the person was selling cannabis through online delivery services.
During the search, investigators found an unpermitted indoor cannabis cultivation, 90 pounds of processed cannabis packaged for resale, $155,038 in cash, 1,100 vape pen cartridges containing cannabis concentrate, a work area for filling vape pens and more than 10 pounds of high-concentrate cannabis resin.
“Cannabis items were determined to be meant for sale on the unregulated cannabis market. The building was red-tagged by the Planning Department due to unsafe electrical wiring,” Santa Cruz County spokesperson Jason Hoppin said in a written statement.
The case will be submitted to the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
The total amount defrauded from various welfare programs is under investigation.
