Man accused of growing pot on USFS property

A two-week investigation by El Dorado County sheriff’s deputies ended with the arrest of a 21-year-old Mexican national on drug charges.

On June 21, the West El Dorado Narcotics Enforcement Team along with the Mountain and Valley Marijuana Investigations Team entered a suspected marijuana grow operation on U.S. Forest Service land north of Stumpy Meadows Lake, east of Georgetown.

Omar Ruiz Talauera was booked into the county jail on charges of resisting an officer, cultivation of marijuana and possession for sale of marijuana.

Omar Ruiz Talauera

Deputies said the suspect was dressed in camouflage and attempted to flee.

Deputies said the operation created extensive resource damage to the area. Thousands of square feet of timber had been clear cut to accommodate the illegal growing operation. The tops of the stumps that were left behind, were painted green in an apparent attempt to avoid detection by law enforcement aircraft. Several empty bags of fertilizer and trash were found in and about the garden area, which was directly above the Rubicon River, a tributary of the Middle Fork of the American River, eventually leading to the North Fork of the American River and into Folsom Lake.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report