Mauricio Vaca, Marijuana Cultivation, California 2024

A Mexican national has pleaded guilty to conspiring to manufacture, distribute, and possess with intent to distribute marijuana in a federally designated wilderness area in California.

Mauricio Vaca-Bucio, 31, of Michoacán, Mexico, was apprehended after a two-month investigation in the Kiavah Wilderness, a protected area in the Sequoia National Forest.

According to court documents, Vaca and his co-defendants Felipe Angeles Valdez-Colima, 35, and Rodolfo Torres-Galvan, 29, also of Mexico, were stopped by law enforcement officers in Weldon after they emerged from the forest and entered a Camaro driven by Vaca.

The officers found freshly harvested marijuana in the vehicle and located over 1,800 marijuana plants at the grow site on the trail that led to the drop point. The officers also discovered deadly illegal pesticides, including carbofuran and zinc phosphide, in both the vehicle and at the grow site.

In pleading guilty, Vaca agreed to pay over $7,000 in restitution to the U.S. Forest Service for the damage he caused to the National Forest. The Kiavah Wilderness was designated by the United States Congress in 1994 and is managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service.

Vaca is scheduled for sentencing on July 29 and faces a minimum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum statutory penalty of life in prison, along with a $10 million fine. His co-defendants, Felipe and Rodolfo, previously entered guilty pleas and are set for sentencing on May 20 and April 29, respectively.

This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Forest Service with assistance from Enforcement and Removal Operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California National Guard, Kern County Sheriff’s Office, and Kern County Probation Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen A. Escobar is prosecuting the case.

Related Federal Cases