The Kern County Sheriff's Office teamed with other drug enforcement officials to seize marijuana plants from several marijuana greenhouses in Delano on Tuesday.
Four greenhouses were located on Banner Avenue and Tangerine Street, with three of the greenhouses containing over 3,000 live marijuana plants.
The remaining greenhouse contained approximately 3,600 starter cups that contained marijuana seeds in the beginning stages of germination.
The seeds had a potential yield of 18,000 marijuana plants.
Five suspects were arrested for illegally cultivating marijuana and conspiracy to cultivate marijuana.
One of the five suspects was also charged with resisting arrest because he attempted to flee the scene when officers arrived.
This type of marijuana cultivation is not rare in Kern County.
"Historically, Kern County does have what's called a marijuana season, a marijuana grow season and that runs from early spring to the month of October," said Brandon Ruthledge, senior deputy for the Kern County Sheriff's Office.
"Year after year, we do find marijuana grows in agriculture areas and the surrounding hills of Kern County."
