Guard dogs run through a small clearing, barking at us. Josephine County Sheriffs Office deputies search a property in the 9000 block of Takilma Road in Cave Junction during an investigation into suspect Christopher Michael Meyer, 35, accused of attempting to meet a 14-year-old for sex and attempting to deliver an ounce of marijuana to another juvenile. OSP said the two were had been in a confrontation with Roberts, and were following him in a car when they shot him in the back of the head. A gated property where an illegal cannabis operation was located in Cave Junction, Oregon. Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Click here to find out how. Detectives identified Cave Junction residents Renee Lee Edrington, 39, and Kyle James Forester, 29, as the suspects. And everyone is going, Somethings not right in southern Oregon.. Mesquite, TX Daily Crime Records. Compare Cave Junction crime data to other cities, states, and neighborhoods in the U.S. on NeighborhoodScout. So these farm workers that were depending on harvesting the orchards and the grapes to be able to survive literally survive over the summer and save up money for the winter they didnt have anywhere to go except to work for these [cannabis] farms, Morales says. Evelyn Barrera is accused of using road flares stolen from a sheriff's office outpost to light 11 fires near an elementary school on May 11. It takes an act of God to get a water right in Oregon, so they just dont bother. Law enforcement employees (officers & civilians), Violent crimes in Cave Junction are 57% lower than the national average, In Cave Junction you have a 1 in 59 chance of becoming a victim of crime, Year over year crime in Cave Junction has decreased by 2%. WebGrants Pass, OR vs Cave Junction, OR Change Cities The Crime Indices range from 1 (low crime) to 100 (high crime). 32-year-old Lauren Siegel was arrested for unlawful possession of marijuana and unlawful manufacturing of marijuana. They just dig holes, he says. I mean its really, really strange for me to be calling for a huge law enforcement or military crackdown on growing marijuana because for so long I just wanted it to be free for people to grow, Cedar says. The Josephine County Sheriffs Office arrested Harley Boitz, 26, in Cave Junction on April 1. But he has been growing cannabis in this area since 1998, the year Oregon legalized marijuana for medical use. Ore. The Illinois Valley Fire District Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) will be conducting a free basic disaster training course. Webb is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 23, Josephine County Circuit Court records show. One of the biggest complaints this year is that peoples wells are underperforming or just drying right out, he says. But in the past year, longtime locals have been alarmed by the rapid proliferation of unlicensed pot farms, unprecedented in terms of size and allegedly controlled by crime syndicates from eastern Europe, China and Mexico. Kevin Bacon is in his little police or military uniform and hes got his hands in the air and he says Remain calm, all is well and then completely gets mowed over by the crowd? People are also reading Registering for a FREE Local Crime News membership. Latest stories. Learn more about: Privacy Policy, 2022-23 NFL Sunday Night Football schedule, Cave Junction bank robbery suspects arrested, Portland region begins homeless point-in-time count, Snow leads to slick conditions, crashes early Tuesday across Jackson county, SMHS basketball breaking school records, led by emerging star Boden Howell, 19th annual Oregon Chocolate Festival in Ashland this weekend, Highway 199 closed briefly as part of widespread snow. At around 7:20 am, IVFD, AMR, Oregon State Police (OSP), Sheriff and Josephine County Animal Control responded to the area of 336 South Kerby Ave for a vehicle into a school bus. The charges stem from the March 24 discovery of the bodies of Daniel Hill, 24, and Paul Folk, 26, in a burning car in Selma. State law doesnt allow us to, he says. Ive talked to the FBI, and the DEA. We dont look into immigration status. They were all charged with second-degree robbery and third-degree theft. CHICAGO - A large chunk of the Kennedy Expressway is scheduled for construction beginning this March. This part of south-western Oregon which encompasses Josephine, Jackson and Douglas counties and was settled by goldminers in the 1850s has always kept a touch of the wild west anti-authority streak, contributing to its status as a stronghold of illegal cannabis farms since the 1960s. Christopher Michael Meyer of Cave Junction faces first-degree online sexual corruption of a child, luring a minor and unlawfully delivering marijuana charges on accusations he spent more than a month texting a person he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, and that he offered the teens 16-year-old friend an ounce of marijuana, according to documents filed Friday in Josephine County Circuit Court. 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The threat to the environmental health of the region cannot be overstated. News FOX 32 Chicago CHICAGO - A large chunk of the Kennedy Expressway is scheduled for construction beginning this March. The 2021 grow season was the most brazen, in your face, wide open that Ive seen yet, he says. Police say Moehring was arrested without incident at an Interstate 5 rest area around 9 a.m. Monday by personnel from the Eugene Police Department, the U.S. Josephine county resident Gary Longnecker looks at an illegal grow along his property. Thats incredibly frustrating to legal cannabis farms. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. The break in the case came when a witness identified as Clarabelle Compton came forward, and provided a statement that named the four suspects. Its too bad, its too wrong, and its too damaging. Christopher Hall parks his old Toyota on a dirt road that dead-ends in a forest in Oregons Illinois Valley. Manage Settings All rights reserved. Marshals Service and the Oregon State Police SWAT Team. Cave Junction. Were in close contact with the governor and our federal partners are starting to open their eyes. An amount below 100 means Cave Junction is cheaper than the US average. After the hemp market crashed in 2018, some farmers began hiding psychoactive cannabis plants in their hemp fields and many more leased their properties to out-of-state operators who claimed they planned on growing hemp. The Illinois River near Cave Junction, Oregon. Our website uses cookies to improve your experience. A big part of the problem is rooted in the legalization of industrial hemp, which looks and smells like marijuana but wont get you high. Guard dogs run through a small clearing, barking at us. Our local government seems to spend more time enforcing compliance on legal cannabis farms than even visiting illegal cannabis farms, Cedar says. Mail Tribune to cease operations Friday - 1/13/2023. Which is fine. I treat these workers like theyre victims, to be honest with you. In Cave Junction you have a 1 They human-traffic. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. Fairly safe. I never walk alone at night. There is more crime than I'd like in this area. I feel safe walking in most areas. Christopher Hall photographed in Cave Junction, a small city in Josephine county. According to deputies, more than 190 pounds of processed marijuana and 500 pre-rolled marijuana cigarettes were seized. Two men pull up almost instantly in a Honda with busted headlights; the driver asks Hall what hes doing there. Empty hoop houses grows seen along the road Holland Loop Road near Cave Junction, Oregon. This request is not unprecedented. Douglas county law enforcement recently raided two supposed hemp farms they believe are operated by the same cartel and seized a total of 122,000 cannabis plants nearly 50 times the quantity of plants that can typically be grown under a recreational cannabis license. I fully support federal resources being brought, Oregon national guard and federal law enforcement coming in. Pot was legalized for recreational use in Oregon in 2015, making it legal for any person to grow up to four plants. In August, law enforcement officials raided the ranch after the death of man found dropped off at a gas station. Law enforcement in Southern Oregon arrested a 30-year-old man and seized nearly 1.5 tons of illegal marijuana after raiding two locations near Cave Junction last week. Jun 1, 2022 Updated Jun 1, 2022 0 Anthony Duane Siddle, 60, was arrested this morning in Cave Junction on a warrant out of San Diego. They fear reprisals and asked that their names be changed. When residents call in, they are scared, Freeman says. These large grows have flooded the market a pound of cannabis that was worth $3,000 in 2009 here might now fetch $400, all but killing the industry for small-time Dec 21, 2021 04:38 PM, SOU president gets feedback on realignment plan, Oregon will begin processing 2022 state income tax returns Jan. 23, Man sentenced in connection with beating death, Since You Asked: Panera Bread on track for early 2023 opening. He started questioning one of the soldiers managers, soldiers, whatever you want to call it and they threatened to burn his house down. The US Marshals Service learned that Siddle might be in the Cave Junction area. Emergency Communications of Southern Oregon, better known as emergency dispatch, received a call at 8:33 a.m. of a threat at Ashland High School. The community is upside down., Jackson and Douglas counties declared a state of emergency in October and asked Governor Kate Brown for state funding for more enforcement personnel because local authorities are overwhelmed. Please subscribe to keep reading. WebCave Junction crime rates are 28% lower than the national average. Oregon State Police is leading the investigation with help from the Grants Pass Department of Public Safety, the Josephine County District Attorney's Office and the Josephine County Sheriffs Office. The couple were saving up to build a bigger house on their land, but are considering moving because of an illegal grow that moved in nearby last year. Cold Cases Missing Persons Daily Archive. Photograph: Mason Trinca/The Guardian, Somethings not right in southern Oregon: alarm at rise of illegal pot farms, Felisa Rogers, with photographs by Mason Trinca. About half of the 200 complaints of wage withholding they received in 2021 are from workers who have been abused, like the man who said when he tried to leave the farm his boss put a gun to his head and threatened his family. He points out a cluster of greenhouses surrounded by piles of trash, and the hillside above, which has been terraced and entirely stripped of vegetation. The threat of violence isnt limited to workers. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. The remains were found in the Quartz Creek area in June 1986. WebKalyan: Traffic cop assaulted, two arrested; Incident at Lodha Junction. Local Crime News provides daily arrest log updates for every city Hall, community liaison for the Illinois Valley Soil and Water Conservation District, has been flying over the region in a single-engine plane to map illegal pot farms and has pinpointed 1,030 clusters of greenhouses on just 20 miles of the valley, 80% of which he estimates are illegal. How many plants are you growing? One man says theyre from Serbia and claims they have a license to grow as another truck pulls up. Hit every one of these farms., Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Empty hoop houses seen along the roadside near Cave Junction, Oregon, last month. Our website uses cookies to improve your experience. JCSO said the vehicle was pulled over near Gold Canyon and the three occupants inside were arrested without incident. For a bespectacled middle-aged conservationist, Hall is surprisingly reckless. Since 2010, its been legal to grow hemp in unlimited quantities. The fully skeletonized remains of a woman discovered in 1986 has been identified using investigative genetic genealogy in Josephine County, authorities say. Every story from every site is brought to you automatically and continuously According to investigators, two male suspects in masks reportedly fled on foot after taking an undisclosed amount of money. Poor. Jan 09, 2022 03:02 PM, SOU president gets feedback on realignment plan, Oregon will begin processing 2022 state income tax returns Jan. 23, Man sentenced in connection with beating death, Since You Asked: Panera Bread on track for early 2023 opening. I tell Hall I think we should move on, and he reluctantly shifts into drive but is unable to resist a few parting shots: Do you think you can just keep trashing our streams? This yields a total of 24 sex offenders in Oregon per 100,000 residents which is 91% less than the national average. He points out a cluster of greenhouses surrounded by piles of trash, and the hillside above, which has been terraced and entirely stripped of vegetation. YOU SHOULD KNOW Violent crime is composed of four offenses: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. DPS sent at least 3,000 drivers licenses to organized crime group targeting Asian Texans. Hall documents the impact of the illegal farms depleting aquifers by pumping from protected rivers and digging huge pits to tap into the groundwater. They said, We can take care of this real quick. 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