Two men are heading to prison for their role in an attempted cannabis robbery that left another man dead.

Jose Antonio Alvarez and Omar Rojo, both aged 25, “entered no contest pleas to voluntary manslaughter and were formally sentenced in late October,” according to Bay Area News Group.

Both Alvarez and Rojo received an identical prison sentence of 16 years.

The two “were originally charged with murder and robbery in the death of 25-year-old Jaime Valdovinos,” the publication said.

Valdovinos and another individual were targeted by Rojo and Alvarez for a robbery of “a large amount of marijuana” back in late September of 2019, according to Bay Area News Group.

NBC Bay Area reported at the time that Oakland police said that the “man who was with Valdovinos told police that Rojo and another suspect robbed Valdovinos and him of a large amount of marijuana,” and that the “surviving victim said that during a struggle to get the marijuana back, the two suspects shot and killed Valdovinos.”

Rojo, who was 20 at the time, “was charged with special circumstances murder” days after the shooting, according to the NBC affiliate. 

“Witnesses and video surveillance camera footage indicate that Rojo was in the rear seat of a vehicle in which Valdovinos and the other man were sitting, Oakland police Officer Michael Jaeger wrote in a probable cause statement,” the outlet reported at the time.

Alvarez, however, was not arrested until April of 2021.

Bay Area News Group has more background on the sentence of the two men.

“Police reports allege both Rojo and Alvarez fired guns during the course of the setup. The shooting happened when the victims were attempting to get the marijuana back, according to Oakland police,” the outlet reported this week.

“Investigators said in a court statement that Alvarez was identified as a suspect through ‘surveillance video and witnesses.’ The plea deal includes a court order for both defendants to stay away from the surviving victim and to not possess guns after their release from prison. Both men were originally charged with crimes that made them eligible for life without the possibility of parole.”

The disturbing case highlights the dangers that still exist within the illicit drug trade –– operations that Bay Area law enforcement continue to rein in.

Earlier this fall, law enforcement officials raided a warehouse in Oakland filled with millions of dollars worth of cannabis plants, a bust that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said was one of the biggest the Golden State has seen this year.

“We have a history of combating illegal outdoor cannabis grows, which has evolved to a broader range of operations including warehouse grows, in support of establishing a thriving legal marketplace,” Janice Mackey, a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told High Times in an email. “CDFW’s cannabis enforcement program is always gathering intelligence, receiving information and conducting an array of investigations with our state and county partners on various aspects of the illegal cannabis supply chain.”

Local news station KGO reported that the “authorities eradicated 41,082 illegal cannabis plants and destroyed 1,841 pounds of processed cannabis” with an “estimated retail value [of] $36,930,300” in the raid.

The station also said that three firearms were recovered in the operation.

Last year, an armed robbery at an Oakland dispensary resulted in the theft of $100,000 worth of products.

Alan Sorrentino, the owner of C.R.A.F.T. (Citizens Research Alliance for Therapeutics) Cannabis, the dispensary that was robbed, explained what transpired to local news station KTVU. Just before 3 a.m., Sorrentino said the robbers “cut the power to the whole building.”

From KTVU:

“The theft happened early Saturday morning and the owner says one of the thieves brandished a gun at him when he showed up at the store…Sorrentino says the intruders seemed to have an orchestrated plan that ultimately helped them get over $100,000 in stolen product. ‘Unfortunately they were able to get away with all of our inventory basically, so we’ve had to shut down,’ Sorrentino said. Sorrentino says his alarm company notified him of the burglary early Saturday morning and they both called Oakland police multiple times. He says he went over to the building and one of the suspects approached him with a gun, so he quickly left the area. He says he could see them on the surveillance video the whole time. ‘I sat and watched them pretty much loot the whole building for at least three hours,’ Sorrentino said. The robbers left a trail of destruction behind them: Busted walls where a secured safe was removed, broken door locks, and broken stair steps. Oakland police say there were at least three vehicles involved in the burglary.”

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Last weekend, officials descended upon a warehouse in Oakland, California, allegedly full of illegal cannabis plants, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). Not only cannabis opponents, but also law-abiding operators are not fans of illegal cannabis operations that they must compete with.

The department said that it’s one of the largest cannabis busts this year in the Bay Area, where illegal operations are common.

Agents raided the warehouse on Sept. 28, located on the 300 block of Adeline Street in Oakland. Law enforcement officers eradicated 41,082 cannabis plants and destroyed 1,841 pounds of “processed cannabis.” Officials say the estimated retail value was $36,930,300.

“We have a history of combating illegal outdoor cannabis grows, which has evolved to a broader range of operations including warehouse grows, in support of establishing a thriving legal marketplace,” Janice Mackey, a CDFW spokesperson told High Times in an email. “CDFW’s cannabis enforcement program is always gathering intelligence, receiving information and conducting an array of investigations with our state and county partners on various aspects of the illegal cannabis supply chain.”

“This is one of the largest cannabis enforcement actions (in terms of retail value) in the Bay Area this year,” said Mackey.

Fox KTVU 2 reports that three guns were confiscated at the scene as well. “No one was arrested, but suspects were interviewed,” Mackey told KTVU 2 in an email. It’s unclear what tipped off officials to the warehouse, but they typically rely on concerned citizens to bring attention to these operations.

CDFW representatives said this is an ongoing investigation and no other information is available at this time. CDFW maintains that it has a public trust responsibility to protect and conserve California’s fish and wildlife resources. Cannabis cultivators, like most other industries, must comply with Fish and Game Code.

CDFW Inspections have led to violations for water diversions and storage, grading, chemical use, wildlife threats, timber conversion, and public safety, the department notes. Between 2013 and 2018, over 700 inspections resulted in 399 tons of trash removed from public and private lands including 2.4 million feet of irrigation pipe, 50 tons of fertilizer, and 465 gallons of chemicals, many illegal. In addition, the removal of 709 dams and water diversions related to cannabis grows resulted in restoration of 800 million gallons of water back into local watersheds.

CDFW agents said they seized nearly 40,000 cannabis plants in raids on April 25, The San Francisco Standard reported. In that bust, a similar amount, over $36 million worth of cannabis, was seized in the raids at 744 Kevin Court and 4825 San Leandro St.

Oakland residents are used to rising crime in the area—sometimes with cannabis businesses and the people behind them as the victims. Last year, C.R.A.F.T. (Citizens Research Alliance for Therapeutics) Cannabis was robbed at gunpoint and about $100,000 in product was stolen. Making things worse, eyewitnesses say it took “hours” for police to arrive at the scene.

 A man was shot at the Oakanna dispensary in February 2022. Oakanna dispensary owner Joshua Chase was shot in the foot after a group of burglars tripped an alarm in the early morning hours at his relatively new retail facility. 

Criminals are also getting creative in the way they target cannabis businesses, such as smash and grab attempts, now with heavy machinery. Security footage obtained last June shows a huge forklift being used in a break-in attempt at another dispensary.

The cannabis delivery industry in the area has also been hit hard. Access to banking services could solve many of those problems and make dispensaries safer for the people who work in them.

CDFW Cannabis Enforcement Ramps Up

Wildlife officers with the CDFW’s Marijuana Enforcement Team (MET) also spearheaded several enforcement investigations in rural areas during August and September, a Sept. 27 news release indicates.

During Sept. 4-8, MET officers raided several illegal cannabis operations on rural private lands in Shasta, Tehama and Sutter counties. Often officers depend on concerned citizens to drop the dime: Officers were tipped off by a hunter who stumbled on one of the trespass grow sites and reported it. 

MET officers destroyed more than 5,500 illegal plants, arrested four suspects, seized several firearms including one stolen handgun, dismantled several water diversions and removed thousands of pounds of trash. Backup was provided from CDFW’s Air Services and K9 Units, as well as the California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Eradication and Prevention of Illicit Cannabis (EPIC) task force.

“Many recreationists who venture into California’s backcountry are our best eyes and ears for reporting poaching, pollution and illegal cannabis cultivation on public land,” said Nathaniel Arnold, Acting Chief of Enforcement for CDFW. “These enforcement actions not only provide public and consumer safety, but they also combat the illegal cannabis supply chain. I could not be more proud of these dedicated officers.”

The recent raids in the Bay Area and beyond highlight the issue and proliferation of illegal cannabis operations in both urban and rural areas of California.

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