Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue says illegal cannabis cultivation in northern California is tied to violence, water theft and operations he alleges have links to Chinese individuals and organised criminal groups.
LaRue estimates that illicit marijuana grown in the Shasta Vista subdivision alone could be worth more than $2bn (£1.5bn) annually, although that figure has not been independently verified. The sheriff's concerns centre heavily on Shasta Vista, a subdivision where LaRue says about 60 per cent of growers encountered by deputies are Chinese.
