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5,600 plants seized in Josephine County pot raids By Mail Tribune staff Updated: May 23, 2022 04:28 PM A A The Josephine Marijuana Enforcement Team has arrested 23-year-old Vincent Russel Lopez-Avendano on charges accusing him unlawfully delivering and possessing marijuana and unlawfully appropriating water stemming from one of two May 19 raids outside Grants Pass. [JMET photo] The Josephine Marijuana Enforcement Team has made one arrest and seized more than 5,000 plants following searches of two suspected illicit marijuana raids outside Grants Pass. Vincent Russel Lopez-Avendano, 23, of Santa Rosa, California, faces felony counts of of unlawfully manufacturing and unlawfully possessing marijuana stemming from a May 19 search of an alleged grow operation in the 3000 block of Southside Road, Grants Pass, according to a release issued by the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office Monday afternoon. The multi-agency Josephine Marijuana Enforcement Team alleges they found Lopez-Avendano in possession of more than 4,400 plants on the property, and the Josephine County District Attorney’s office has since added a misdemeanor charge of unlawfully appropriating water, accusing him of “unlawfully and knowingly” storing, using or diverting water without a permit. On the same day as the raid on Southside Road, JMET says they found approximately 1,200 unlicensed plants on a property in the 200 block of Forest Glen Road. Police detained two individuals in the second raid, but as of Monday afternoon the primary suspect remains outstanding. Lopez-Avendano was booked in the Josephine County Jail Thursday and released Friday after posting $5,000 bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for June 22, Josephine County Circuit Court records show.