Attorney General Bonta, Together with Local, State, and Federal Law Enforcement Partners, Announces Eradication of Over 728,000 Illegally-Grown Cannabis Plants in 2025

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta, together with local, state, and federal law enforcement partners, today announced the eradication of 728,458 illegally cultivated cannabis plants and 204 arrests in 34 different counties across California in 2025 as part of the Eradication and Prevention of Illicit Cannabis (EPIC) program. EPIC is an interagency task force focused on combating the illegal cannabis market, cannabis enforcement work, and investigating and prosecuting civil and criminal cases with a focus on environmental, economic, and labor impacts from illegal cultivation.

“California has the largest safe, legal, and regulated cannabis market in the world, but unfortunately illegal and unlicensed grows continue to harm California lands,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “The EPIC program works to provide a comprehensive approach to addresses the broader implications of the underground cannabis market, from tackling the environmental damage caused by these illicit activities, to confronting the economic and labor ramifications that arise from unregulated cultivation. Together with local, state, and federal law enforcement partners, the EPIC task force eradicated illegally cultivated cannabis plants across 34 California counties this year. Together, we are working toward a solution that not only curtails illegal activities but also promotes a sustainable and equitable cannabis industry in the state.” 

“The California National Guard is proud to work with our interagency partners to combat illicit narcotics statewide,” said CalGuard Adjutant General Maj Gen Matthew Beevers. “Our Counterdrug Task Force provides technical support to local, state, and federal law enforcement, serving the public and protecting our communities.” 

“California State Parks—home to the nation’s largest state park system—plays a vital role in safeguarding the state’s most cherished landscapes and its natural and cultural resources,” said State Parks Director Armando Quintero. “Preventing and repairing the environmental harm caused by illegal cannabis cultivation is a top priority of our Cannabis Watershed Protection Program, and State Parks’ participation in the EPIC program is a critical component. This work is essential to our broader mission of keeping parks and surrounding communities safe, healthy and protected for generations to come.” 

“Illicit cannabis grows like the ones the EPIC program targets do real harm to our natural resources and are a major public safety concern for Californians,” said California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton H. Bonham. “Dismantling them requires collaboration across all levels of government, and these results show how effective our partnerships continue to be.”

“The Central Valley California (CVC) HIDTA Program is proud to again support the EPIC program,” said John J. Martin, the Executive Director of the Central Valley California HIDTA. “The EPIC program is the CVC HIDTA’s largest collaboration of local, state and federal law enforcement, working together with the common mission of eliminating illegal cannabis. Through coordinated intelligence sharing, strategic operations, and local, state and federal collaboration, this proactive approach not only protects California’s natural resources and communities, but also assists our law enforcement partners in other states by disrupting the supply chain of illegal cannabis.”

In 2025, EPIC teams operating in Northern, Central, and Southern California, conducted 605 operations, recovered 170 weapons, and removed infrastructure, including dams, water lines, and containers of toxic chemicals, such as carbofuran, methyl parathion, aluminum phosphate, zinc phosphide, and illegal fertilizers. Carbofuran, in particular, poses untold risks to public health. A lethal insecticide that is effectively banned in the United States, carbofuran remains on plants after application and seeps into soil and nearby water sources. 

EPIC operations were conducted in the following 34 counties:

• Alameda: 1 site, 5,838 plants eradicated
• Butte: 11 sites, 25,003 plants eradicated
• Fresno: 49 sites, 36,284 plants eradicated
• Kern: 127 sites, 114,341 plants eradicated
• Lake: 29 sites, 33,836 plants eradicated
• Lassen: 23 sites, 46,513 plants eradicated
• Los Angeles: 16 sites, 44,038 plants eradicated
• Mariposa: 8 sites, 4,418 plants eradicated
• Marin: 1 site, 313 plants eradicated  
• Mendocino: 93 sites, 105,053 plants eradicated
• Monterey: 1 site, 142 plants
• Napa: 1 site, 148 plants eradicated
• Nevada: 20 sites, 16,366 plants eradicated
• Riverside: 40 sites, 113,377 plants eradicated
• San Benito, 2 sites, 22 plants eradicated
• San Bernardino: 5 sites, 32,928 plants eradicated
• San Diego: 6 sites, 4,487 plants eradicated
• San Mateo: 1 site, 1,113 plants eradiated
• Santa Clara: 3 sites, 330 plants eradicated
• Santa Cruz: 1 site, 400 plants eradicated
• Shasta: 47 sites, 35,667 plants eradicated
• Siskiyou: 62 sites, 57,572 plants eradicated
• Stanislaus: 4 sites, 2,151 plants eradicated
• Trinity: 49 sites, 24,100 plants eradicated
• Tulare: 9 sites, 11,806 plants eradicated
• Tuolumne: 3 sites, 883 plants eradicated
• Ventura: 1 site, 2,484 plants eradicated
• Yuba: 3 sites, 8,845 plants eradicated
• Kings: reconnaissance only
• Inyo: reconnaissance only
• Madera: reconnaissance only
• Placer: reconnaissance only
• Santa Barbara: reconnaissance only
• Solano: reconnaissance only

The EPIC program focuses on the investigation and prosecution of civil and criminal cases relating to illicit cannabis cultivation with a focus on environmental and economic harms and labor exploitation. EPIC is a multi-agency collaboration led by the California Department of Justice in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s U.S. Forest Service; the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service; the California Department of Fish and Wildlife; the U.S. Department of Justice’s Drug Enforcement Administration; the California National Guard, Counter Drug Task Force; the Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program; California State Parks; the California Environmental Protection Agency; and other local law enforcement departments.

EPIC marks an evolution in DOJ's cannabis enforcement work, reflecting the issues and concerns arising from operations each summer. EPIC works in close coordination with DOJ’s Cannabis Control Section, Special Prosecutions Section, and Tax Recovery and Underground Economy (TRUE) Task Force to build investigations and prosecute civil and criminal cases.

Graphics of 2025 EPIC season statistics are available here.