(Yuba-Sutter, CA) — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced yesterday that illegal cannabis operations were targeted recently in several Northern California counties, including Sutter County.

Officials said wildlife officers with the CDFW’s Marijuana Enforcement Team spearheaded several enforcement investigations in late August and early September. Several illegal cannabis operations on rural private lands were targeted in Shasta, Tehama and Sutter counties. Officers received a tip from a hunter who stumbled on one of the trespass grow sites and reported it. As a result officers eradicated more than 5,500 illegal plants, arrested four suspects, seized several firearms including one stolen handgun, dismantled several water diversions and removed thousands of pounds of trash.