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Man cited and released, marijuana seized from reported burglary site

(Courtesy/Marion County Sheriff’s Office)

Marion County deputies investigating a burglary Sunday morning seized over 2,800 pounds of marijuana from what they described as an illegal marijuana operation just north of Salem.

Deputies were called just after 6 a.m. Sunday to a property on Labish Garden Road Northeast near Highway 99 East, according to a Wednesday news release from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

The caller said four people armed with rifles had broken into a shop on the property, the news release said. Sgt. Jeremy Landers, spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, declined to say who made the call. 

The suspects fled from the property in two separate vehicles — a gray Dodge Ram and a white pickup — when deputies arrived. Deputies followed the white pickup on Interstate 5 but stopped “for safety reasons” near Woodburn, the news release said.

The property owner, Dominik Calvillo, was not onsite when deputies got there, and he later arrived when they were on scene, Landers said.

“While investigating the burglary, deputies learned this was an illegal marijuana operation and discovered a large amount of marijuana in the shop,” the news release said.

Detectives from the sheriff’s office’s Directed Patrol Unit got a search warrant for the property and seized 2,800 pounds of marijuana, two firearms, body armor, and smaller amounts of heroin, ecstasy, LSD and different prescription drugs, the news release said.

Calvillo, 28 of Salem, was cited and released for unlawful possession of marijuana and unlawful manufacture of marijuana items.

“The shop the reported armed suspects were trying to break into is where all of this was located, leading investigators to believe the marijuana operation was likely the intended target,” Landers wrote in an email.

Landers said there was not an active grow operation at the shop, and it appeared to have been used as a processing site, a broad term for “dealing with product that’s already grown,” he said. “They may be drying it, they may be trimming it, they could be packaging it.”

He said the sheriff’s office hasn’t seen an uptick in illegal marijuana operations cropping up in Marion County. 

“For us, it’s not that this is new. I think the important thing is that even with changes in laws, there’s still potential violent crime that goes on around the drug trade,” he said.

Marijuana has been legal for Oregonians 21 and older since 2015, but possession of more than eight ounces of usable marijuana is illegal, and growing it requires a license except for personal use growth up to four plants per residence.

The investigation comes just over a week after Oregon State Police arrested two people on Nov. 9 and seized 2,158 live plants, 196 pounds of packaged marijuana and $25,560 in cash from what police described as an illegal marijuana grow operation near Jefferson, according to a news release.  

In that case, the alleged grow operators were charged with unlawful manufacture of marijuana item, unlawful possession of marijuana item and unlawful production of marijuana and were lodged at the Marion County Jail.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office also found illegal marijuana grow operations at three locations at the beginning of September, said Sheriff Mark Garton. Meanwhile, large grow operations continue to pop up in southern Oregon.

The sheriff’s office said in the news release that investigators are looking for tips with information about the burglary. People can text TIPMCSO and their tip to 847411, or submit one online.

(Courtesy/Marion County Sheriff’s Office)

Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.

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