A ranch in Southern Oregon’s Illinois Valley was subjected to raids this week to investigate illegal cannabis cultivation, human trafficking and forced labor.
The raid was part of a larger probe that began after the death of a man from an unpermitted cannabis farm in Cave Junction.
In that case, the man was driven to a gas station in critical condition and left there. The next day, they had already begun harvesting their farm. When law enforcement raided the Illinois Valley ranch two days later, those workers had moved on from this farm and were at another location.
“We’ve heard of the threat of harm to your family,” if people don’t go with them, Daniel said.
The Josephine County Sheriffs department joined 16 other state and federal agencies for the raid of a large-scale operation.
Authorities seized $140,000 in cash and ten firearms, destroying more than 72,000 cannabis plants and 6,000 pounds of processed cannabis.
Police officers found workers living in squalor, according to the sheriff. The workers denied that they had been trafficked saying they didn’t need help but when offered victim services by DHS all of them declined.
No arrests have been made.
