In what was supposed to be a routine cannabis farm raid, federal agents were left stunned after discovering undocumented minors working in squalid conditions deep inside two large grow operations in California. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that multiple children — some reportedly under the age of 14 — were being used as laborers in what officials are now calling an “unfolding humanitarian crisis.”
Sources say agents with DHS and ICE stormed the sites after weeks of surveillance. But once inside, the mission took a dramatic turn. Hidden compartments, makeshift bedding, and restrained minors were discovered—raising immediate concerns of human trafficking and forced labor under the guise of agriculture.
Local protestors clashed with law enforcement as news of the raid spread, accusing authorities of targeting immigrants rather than going after the wealthy landowners profiting from these illicit operations. One eyewitness said, “You think it’s just about weed? They’re hiding kids in there.”
Officials believe the minors were smuggled across the border and promised shelter, only to be exploited and trapped in labor camps masked as cannabis farms. The Department of Justice is now investigating possible violations of child labor, immigration, and trafficking laws.