Mitchell added that Brown and his family were the victims of several criminal acts by criminal profiteers.
On Wednesday, sheriff's officials and members of the state's Campaign Against Marijuana Program – or CAMP – eradicated just under 5,000 plants from an area Brown estimated to cover 100 acres of his 300 -acre property along Bottle Rock Road, as Lake County News has reported.
The plants were located under brush and tree canopies on the rugged property.
Brown said the plants were discovered July 8 by Steve Prather, a friend of his who also is a retired heavy equipment operator with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Prather said Wednesday that he was on his Caterpillar clearing out brush from the area, which Brown wanted to seed for grazing land for his cattle and buffalo, when he ran into chicken wire and then spotted the marijuana plants under a thick brush cover.
That's when a Hispanic male came out of the brush, angrily waving him off. Prather said he had been of a mind to get down off the Caterpillar and grab the man, but he thought better of it after he realized the man was talking on a cell phone.
Concerned that the might be calling in reinforcement, Prather said he turned the Caterpillar around and, ducking low over his controls, left the area, concerned that a bullet might come through his window.
Shortly afterward, Prather called to tell Brown what he found. Brown said he subsequently called the sheriff's office and reported the garden. A flyover of the property in the following days showed how extensive it was.
Ryan Pontecorvo of the Department of Justice said Wednesday that, based on the evidence found at the scene, which resembled other such grow sites, they believed the growers had been part of one of the Mexican drug rings that are increasingly showing up around California.
The site was scattered with large amounts of garbage and portable propane tanks, besides miles of dripline and chicken wire, which could be seen from a flyover.
Still, that hasn't put an end to speculation or accusations by community members that Brown himself actually was responsible for planting the illegal marijuana. That's despite the fact that officials have not found evidence linking Brown to the activity, and no one has yet come forward claiming to have direct knowledge that would back up such allegations.
Brown won his third term on the Board of Supervisors last month.
Mitchell said Friday that he's received reports from both his own staff and from Brown that Brown is being attacked and accused of illegal activity, both openly and through suggestive innuendo.
“In either case, it is utter nonsense,” Mitchell said.
“Rob Brown and his family are the legitimate victims of a variety of trespass offenses committed by criminal profiteers,” Mitchell said. “This type of offense is happening on public lands and private lands all over California. It is an enormous problem that has significant safety implications.”
Pontecorvo said the growers of such gardens can be extremely dangerous.
Last week, firefighters working on the Soda Complex on the Mendocino National Forest were threatened by two armed men guarding a small, illicit marijuana grow, as Lake County News has reported.
Also last week, the Santa Clara Sheriff's Office raided an illicit pot grow with 20,000 plants in the Saratoga hills, which the San Jose Mercury News reported was located in an area of remote canyons and thick brush above multimillion-dollar homes. An armed suspect believed to have been a pot grower was shot and killed after confronting authorities.
The number of armed confrontations between suspects and law enforcement like the one in Santa Clara County also is increasing, said John George, special agent in charge of the California Department of Justice's Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement's San Francisco regional office.
George's region covers nine counties, including Lake, which in recent years has led the state in the amount of illicit marijuana eradicated.
He told Lake County News that law enforcement is seeing an increase across California in the amount of illegal marijuana grows discovered on both public and private lands. “They don' know what's public land and what isn't,” he said.
Of all illicit drugs seized in California, marijuana is the leader, according to Department of Justice statistics.
The main individuals responsible, George said, are with Mexican drug trafficking operations, who find California a more hospitable place than their native country. In Mexico, press reports have documented bloody confrontations between the government and the drug traffickers.
Many times, the growers aren't caught, said George, because they are in areas where they can see and hear the approach of others, which gives them a chance to escape.
Such appeared to be the case on Brown's land. While a sheriff's SWAT team went in early Wednesday morning, no suspects were found.
However, Pontecorvo said they found shotgun shells. George said it is becoming increasingly common to find either weapons or ammunition at camps in grow sites.
Also found at the camp on Brown's property was a lit candle, Pontecorvo said. The candle, according to George, is an offering to Jesus Malverde, a folk hero who is considered the patron saint of drug traffickers and dealers, although he's not recognized by the Catholic Church.
George said the growers often will pack the marijuana out of rugged areas on their own backs, taking it to areas where vehicles have been dropped off to transport it.
Pontecorvo said it's also not uncommon for the growers to be murdered after the harvest, so the drug traffickers don't have to pay them.
Regarding the garden found on Brown's land, Mitchell said, “We should all be grateful for the fact that no innocent persons were injured by the criminals who planted the marijuana illegally on that property.”
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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