Calexico Man Arrested in Los Gatos For Illegal Marijuana Grow

A Calexico man has been arrested by Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies in Los Gatos for several felony offenses related to illegal cultivation of marijuana.

Carlos Carrioza de los Rios, 21, was taken into custody at 5:20 p.m. July 20 at 22951 Summit Road in Los Gatos and was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on a $35,000 bail.

Carrioza de los Rios has been charged with two misdemeanors for allegedly depositing or placing in state waters deleterious and polluting substances such as petroleum, acid, tar, asphalt or related products in violation of California Fish and Game code.

The man, whose occupation in the arrest report is listed as unemployed, was also charged with a Health and Safety code felony alleging he illegally planted, cultivated, harvested, dried, or processed marijuana.

Carrioza de los Rios is also facing two other felonies alleging he possessed marijuana, or hash for sale and that he knowingly caused hazardous substances to be deposited into or upon any road, street, highway, alley, or railroad right-of-way, or upon the land of another, without the permission of the owner, or into state waters.

In July, teams of state and local law enforcement officers cleared about 10,000 marijuana plants believed grown by a Mexican drug cartel at Henry Coe State Park in South County, east of Gilroy.

Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith said she believed the illegal pot cultivations in remote mountainous areas were done by the Mexican cartels during the grow season, planting around January and harvesting in August or September.

Aside from growing the drug with the intent to distribute it for sale, the grow's operators harm the environment by damming waterways using harsh pesticides not allowed in the United States, Smith said.