SANTA CRUZ — The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office is shining a light on dangerous and illegal electrical bypasses and meter tampering used in unlawful indoor cannabis cultivations.
Officials often see electrical bypassing where an operator installs wiring around an electrical meter or tampers with an electrical meter to receive unregulated power from Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
The Sheriff’s Office personnel, assigned to the county Cannabis Licensing Office, reported finding five cannabis grow sites utilizing electrical bypasses in December and January. During that time, deputies seized more than a cumulative 2,600 cannabis plants at sites in Boulder Creek, Ben Lomond, Soquel and the unincorporated county areas, according to a recent Santa Cruz County press release.
At one Boulder Creek site in December, investigators found the electrical bypass near Big Basin Way only after the electrical system had caught fire.
To contact the Santa Cruz County Cannabis Licensing Office, email cannabisinfo@santacruzcounty.us or call 831-454-3426.