CLACKAMAS COUNTY, Ore. (KPTV) — A multi-agency raid on illegal marijuana grows across Clackamas and Marion counties led to the rescue of dozens of labor trafficking survivors forced to work in squalor, in an update to a story we reported last week.
The three-day operation, launched after community tips prompted investigations by the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office Interagency Task Force and the Oregon State Police Drug Enforcement Section, targeted a suspected drug trafficking ring tied to illegal grow operations.
Officers served search warrants at six properties, seizing 86 guns and $11,500 in cash, while destroying 110,437 marijuana plants and 81,460 pounds of processed pot. Investigators arrested Jaimee Virrueta-Gomez, 35, of Gerber, California, on suspicion of unlawful manufacture and possession of marijuana, with more charges pending.
At the properties, investigators and victim advocates identified at least 57 potential survivors subjected to forced labor. Responding advocates described inhumane conditions, with laborers forced to sleep on pallets or in tents inside sheds and greenhouses without electricity, running water, or air conditioning during summer heat waves. Because the sites lacked indoor plumbing, the only restrooms were rarely serviced portable facilities…