Beyond the Marijuana Grows: FBI Investigation Requested as Evidence Links Cannabis Operations, Organized Crime and Human Trafficking

By Anastasia Sprout | Mount Shasta Observer | October 22, 2026

On October 15, I attended a sex-trafficking awareness training at the Weed Community Center in Siskiyou County. Yes, Weed. The irony of the location became apparent as the presentation unfolded.

The training, sponsored by First 5 Siskiyou, featured Rebecca Bender, a nationally recognized anti-trafficking educator, survivor and founder of the Rebecca Bender Initiative.

Bender has spent years training law enforcement officers, including federal agents, to recognize how traffickers recruit, manipulate and exploit their victims.

During her presentation, something she said caught my attention. Drawing on her experience training law enforcement, Bender described multiple cases documenting connections between cannabis grows and illicit massage businesses (IMBs) associated with sex trafficking.

ST JAN inforgraphic for citizens concerned about "IMB's."

I was startled. Here in Siskiyou County, illegal marijuana cultivation has been a major problem for years. Could some of the criminal networks behind these grows also be involved in the sexual exploitation of women?

I decided to investigate.

What I found in New Mexico's official organized-crime reports was disturbing: investigators had recovered documents indicating connections between labor trafficking at cannabis grows and sex trafficking in illicit massage businesses.

And the investigations extended beyond New Mexico, into California and Oregon.

Then, just four days after Bender's training, Congressman James Gallagher called for an FBI investigation into the criminal networks financing and operating large-scale illegal marijuana grows in Siskiyou and Shasta counties.

The timing was remarkable.

Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue

Sheriff LaRue Has Been Sounding the Alarm for Years

Gallagher's October 19 request is welcome news for local law enforcement, especially Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue, who has worked tirelessly to bring attention to the county's illegal cannabis industry.

LaRue and his deputies have confronted enormous cultivation operations, dangerous pesticides, water theft, environmental damage and suspected organized crime, often with limited resources.

He has also been willing to speak publicly about the larger criminal networks behind these operations and the need for state and federal assistance.

In January 2025, LaRue traveled to Washington, D.C., to raise concerns about the growing national threat.

Siskiyou News: Sheriff LaRue Brings Illegal Marijuana Industry Concerns to Capitol Hill

In July 2025, when federal environmental authorities announced an investigation into dangerous pesticides at illegal grows, LaRue emphasized that the problem involved much more than marijuana. He identified environmental destruction, human trafficking, toxic chemicals and transnational organized crime as interconnected concerns.

Redheaded Blackbelt: EPA Launches Investigation Into Illegal Pesticide Crisis in Siskiyou County

The numbers show what his department is up against.

According to the Sheriff's Office, the North State Marijuana Investigation Team (NSMIT) eradicated 332,871 illegal cannabis plants and seized 54,070 pounds of processed marijuana in 2025.

LaRue has also reported more than 800 arrests and over two million illegal plants eradicated during the preceding five years.

Redheaded Blackbelt: Siskiyou County Intensifies Cannabis Enforcement

These are substantial accomplishments for a rural sheriff's department. LaRue and his team deserve recognition for their persistence, particularly as the scale of the problem has continued to demand resources far beyond what a single county can reasonably provide.

Gallagher is now asking FBI Director Kash Patel to coordinate federal resources, including Homeland Security Investigations and environmental authorities, to identify the people and organizations financing illegal cultivation.

Jefferson Daily News: Gallagher Seeks FBI Action on Illegal Northern California Marijuana Grows

Related reporting:

Siskiyou County Declares Two Emergencies Over Illegal Cannabis

1. January 2025 — Illegal Cannabis and Organized Crime

Siskiyou County renewed its emergency declaration over widespread illegal marijuana cultivation, originally issued in 2020. County officials cited more than 15,000 acres affected, suspected organized crime, labor trafficking, water theft, violence and environmental destruction. The declaration underscores the enormous challenges facing Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue and his deputies.

Read the County Emergency Resolution

2. July 2025 — Toxic Pesticide Emergency

The Board of Supervisors declared a second emergency after dangerous pesticides were discovered at illegal cannabis grows. Investigators identified more than 27 chemicals, including banned and potentially cancer-causing substances, posing risks to workers, law enforcement, residents and the environment. The county requested additional state and federal assistance.

Read the County Announcement

**Both emergency declarations were extended by the Board of Supervisors on May 5, 2026.

Official records and independent reporting

County emergency resolution 25-11 (PDF)County pesticide emergency announcement Siskiyou News — Emergency Over Toxic Pesticides Jefferson Public Radio — Siskiyou Declares Pesticide Emergency May 5, 2026 Board Minutes — Both Emergencies Extended (PDF)

The Workers Behind the Marijuana Plants

Illegal cultivation is not only an environmental and drug-enforcement problem. It can also be a human-trafficking problem.

In Siskiyou County's 2025 Community Health Needs Assessment, Sheriff LaRue described workers transported to remote cannabis grows and expected to remain there for long periods. Some were told they would not receive payment until the marijuana was harvested and sold.

These circumstances raise serious concerns about forced labor...and similar cases have surfaced elsewhere in Northern California, as well as Southern Oregon.

In May 2026, Mendocino County sheriff's deputies investigated an alleged human-trafficking case at an illegal cannabis grow near Navarro. One worker reported being forced to live and work at the property for approximately two years without pay, adequate food or decent living conditions.

Redheaded Blackbelt: Human-Trafficking Investigation Leads Deputies to Illegal Cannabis Grow

Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal has also spoken publicly about trafficking and exploitation at cannabis grows.

Honsal leads the Northern California Coalition to Safeguard Communities, which brings together law enforcement agencies from Humboldt, Mendocino, Trinity, Lake and Siskiyou counties.

The coalition is working to address organized criminal activity, human trafficking and environmental crimes associated with illegal cultivation.

Redheaded Blackbelt: Sheriff Honsal on Cartels, Trafficking and Illegal Grows

The important lesson is that not everyone found working at an illegal cannabis operation is a willing participant. Some may be victims of the very organizations law enforcement is trying to dismantle.

New Mexico: Documents Link Cannabis Labor Trafficking and Sex Trafficking

This brings us back to Rebecca Bender's presentation in Weed.

The most significant evidence I found comes from the New Mexico Organized Crime Commission's 2024 Annual Report.

On page 28, investigators describe executing a search warrant at a massive illegal cannabis operation near Farmington, New Mexico. During that search, they recovered documents indicating connections between labor trafficking at cannabis grows and sex trafficking in illicit massage businesses.

That is a remarkable finding.

Investigators were not simply examining two unrelated industries. They reported finding documents connecting the two forms of exploitation.

The cannabis operation was associated with Irving Rea-Yui Lin, a California resident involved in a large interstate cultivation enterprise. Federal prosecutors later charged Lin and others in connection with illegal marijuana cultivation and distribution.

The New Mexico report does not explain exactly what the recovered documents revealed or whether the businesses shared owners, recruiters or financial accounts. But it establishes that investigators found evidence worth examining.

New Mexico Organized Crime Commission — 2024 Annual Report, page 28

Trafficked Women, Massage Businesses and California Connections

The same New Mexico report describes organized networks of illicit massage businesses (or IMB's) operating across state lines. Investigators reported women being moved from California to New Mexico, sometimes working at different establishments for weeks or months.

Some businesses were reportedly controlled by people operating from California and Oregon.

Investigators also identified apparent financial connections between illicit massage businesses in New Mexico and individuals or bank accounts in California.

Separate reporting from Farmington described a woman who alleged she had been recruited from Ohio with promises of legitimate massage work, only to be coerced into providing sexual services and prevented from leaving freely.

The operator of that business, Fu Shuping, faced a trafficking investigation. Reporting also identified a California business address associated with her.

These allegations do not establish a direct connection between that operator and the cannabis operation, but they illustrate the kinds of interstate recruitment and financial arrangements investigators were examining.

Following the Money—and the People

The California connection extends further.

Federal investigators described a system in which California-based recruiters and investors helped finance large illegal cannabis operations in New Mexico.

Investigative reporting published in July 2026 described Lin recruiting investors and transporting more than 100 workers from the Los Angeles area to New Mexico.

A separate civil lawsuit brought by 15 Chinese migrant workers alleged trafficking-related abuses.

The Weed Industry's Trafficked Workforce — Economic Hardship Reporting Project

There is no publicly established connection between these particular New Mexico operations and illegal grows in Siskiyou County.

But the evidence raises important questions for investigators here:

Who finances the grows? Who recruits and transports the workers? Who controls their wages and living conditions? Where does the money go?

And are any of the same criminal networks involved in commercial sexual exploitation?

What Happens Next for Siskiyou County?

Sheriff LaRue and his deputies have spent years doing the difficult, dangerous work of confronting illegal cultivation on the ground. Their efforts have removed enormous quantities of marijuana, exposed environmental hazards and brought much-needed public attention to the problem.

The next step is to reach the people directing and financing the operations.

Gallagher's request could help bring federal investigative resources to that task, although the request itself does not establish that a new FBI investigation has begun.

New Mexico's findings offer another reason to examine the financial and human-trafficking dimensions of illegal cannabis cultivation.

I am grateful to Rebecca Bender and First 5 Siskiyou for bringing this education to our community. Her presentation opened a line of inquiry I had not previously explored, and the government documents I found afterward made the questions even more urgent.

For Siskiyou County residents who have watched years of raids, plant seizures and continued illegal cultivation, one question remains:

Will federal investigators finally be able to reach the people financing and profiting from these operations—and uncover the full extent of any human exploitation occurring behind the scenes?

The Mount Shasta Observer will continue following these developments.

Sources and Further Reading

Siskiyou County — Sheriff LaRue and Cannabis Enforcement

Siskiyou County — Two Emergency Declarations

Northern California — Human Trafficking and Cannabis Grows

New Mexico — Cannabis, Sex Trafficking and Interstate Organized Crime

New Mexico Organized Crime Commission — 2024 Annual Report (PDF) — See pages 9, 15 and 28 for findings concerning illicit massage businesses, interstate financial connections and documents linking cannabis labor trafficking with sex trafficking.
Tri-City Record — Organized Crime Unit Takes Over Farmington Massage Spa Investigation (June 2024)
Economic Hardship Reporting Project — The Weed Industry's Trafficked Workforce (July 2026)

Rebecca Bender — Human Trafficking Education

Rebecca Bender Initiative — Survivor-led anti-trafficking education and professional training.
Elevate Academy — Education, career development and support for trafficking survivors.

Siskiyou County — Public Health Documentation

2025 Siskiyou County Community Health Needs Assessment (PDF) — Appendix C includes Sheriff LaRue's discussion of labor trafficking at illegal cannabis operations.