Back in the 1960s, Laguna Beach was full of hippies and weed. And acid. And also love. Now the hippies, acid and some of the love are gone, but the weed is apparently still here.
Lots of it. Until a few hours ago, that is.
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This morning, according to a CNS report, Orange County Sheriff's Department narcotics investigators discovered a “marijuana cultivation” area in the Muddy Canyon area of the Laguna Wilderness Park. “The location is south of the SR 73 toll road, east of Newport Coast Drive near East Coastal Peak Park and Ridge Park Road,” CNS reports. “The plants are located on property in OC Parks jurisdiction, outside city limits.”
Okay, so it's not technically Laguna Beach, but close enough.
According to Sheriff's officials, they found between 2500 and 4000 pot plants. Throughout the day, deputies will be hiking into the remote location and pulling up the crop. Then the department's helicopter, with the appropriately militaristic nickname”Duke” will haul the weed to “a nearby staging area at Coastal Peak Park where it will be packaged for evidence.”
Apparently, Operation Buzz Kill began at 7 am today and is estimated to last until mid-afternoon. No suspects have been named.
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. Twitter: @NickSchou. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
Award-winning investigative journalist Nick Schou is Editor of OC Weekly. He is the author of Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb (Nation Books 2006), which provided the basis for the 2014 Focus Features release starring Jeremy Renner and the L.A. Times-bestseller Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love’s Quest to bring Peace, Love and Acid to the World, (Thomas Dunne 2009). He is also the author of The Weed Runners (2013) and Spooked: How the CIA Manipulates the Media and Hoodwinks Hollywood (2016).