Pictured here is a small section of a major marijuana growing plantation that was raided Thursday morning in Amador County. The facility stretched over several miles and yielded more than 23,000 marijuana plants. Photo by: Scott Thomas Anderson

On Thursday morning, Aug. 6, a fast-moving team of law enforcement officers stormed a camp and marijuana-growing facility hidden in a densely wooded area far above Pioneer.

The grow appears to have been owned by a mafia crime syndicate south of the border. The mission was launched by the Amador County Combined Narcotics Enforcement Team, with ground support from the Amador County Sheriff's Office SWAT team, El Dorado County Sheriff's SWAT team and the U.S. Forest Service. Air and logistical support was given by the Department of Justice's Campaign Against Marijuana Planting Program, whose regional commander and agents helped pull off the operation.

The grow was a permanent, highly elaborate camp that had been in place for at least two years. As law enforcement officers swept through the woods into the camp, its growers threw down their weapons and quickly fled into the thickest part of the forest.

After hours of combing the area, law enforcement found and destroyed more than 23,000 marijuana plants. Their street value is still being calculated. Also recovered were various weapons, chemical fertilizers and other items of physical evidence. The U.S. Forest Service will now try to decide on how to deal with the extreme amount of environmental damage caused by the growing operation - which was located near one of the most pristine areas of the Eldorado National Forest.

The Ledger Dispatch had a reporter embedded with ACNET on this raid. For an in-depth story on how law enforcement launched the operation, as well as the extent of the environmental damage and the ongoing problems associated with drug cartels in the foothills, read the Friday, Aug. 14 issue of the Ledger Dispatch.