Millions of dollars of marijuana uncovered in S. Union Ave. bust

Authorities said Wednesday that they uncovered a large marijuana cultivation operation Tuesday morning.

They found 1,161 marijuana plants with a street value of $4.6 million, 54 pounds of marijuana with a street value of $219,200 and 15 gallons of hashish oil with a street value of $96,000 inside a building on the 1600 block of South Union Avenue, according to a Bakersfield police news release.

The search warrant was served by the police department's narcotics division and agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program.

Four suspects were taken into custody. They are:

• Dustin York, 32, of Thousand Oaks;
• Joseph Taylor, 50, of Thousand Oaks;
• Jeremy Dunn, 18, of Thousand Oaks;
• and Mark McGrath, 48, of Bakersfield.

As a result of this investigation, three search warrants were served in Ventura County, and a fifth suspect, 54-year-old Joseph Nolan, of Oak Park, was arrested.

All five suspects were arrested on suspicion of possession of marijuana for sale, cultivation of marijuana, manufacturing or preparing a controlled substance and conspiracy. They were booked into Kern County jail.