Upscale California city where housing costs are double the national average is OVERRUN with indoor drug dens

Sandwiched betwixt the San Joaquin River and a trio of stunning nationalist parks, the California metropolis of Antioch seems similar a peaceful portion of the state's East Bay region, but successful reality, it harbors an tremendous underground transgression enterprise.

You'd ne'er cognize it based connected the wealthiness of the neighborhood. In fact, residents fork retired 93 percent much than the nationalist mean to unrecorded successful the upscale area, with the median location costing $588,000, portion renters wage a median $2,850 per month, according to Fly Homes. 

But the Golden State city's sunny exterior belies the shady underground weed commercialized that operates down the walls of hundreds of the city's cookie-cutter homes.

Antioch Police raided astir 60 alleged amerciable marijuana dens implicit the past 2 years, according to NBC - and officers judge determination could beryllium hundreds much successful operation. 

Despite the precocious fig of busts, lone 2 radical person been arrested and charged - and some got distant with misdemeanors, acknowledgment to California's lax laws. 

While the median household income successful Antioch is $90,709, immoderate residents are making a large woody much done the shady trade.

An April drugs bust astatine a fancy five-bedroom, two-story Antioch location uncovered hundreds of thousands of dollars worthy of amerciable cannabis successful the 1 residence alone. 

Officials revealed the property belonged to an Oakland constabulary officer - Samson Liu, 38 - who has since been placed connected administrative leave. 

It's unclear whether Liu lived successful the location oregon rented it retired to tenants, and nary arrests person yet been made. 

In different raid this spring, authorities uncovered astir $1 cardinal worthy of amerciable marijuana successful different five-bedroom location connected the affluent Shell Ridge Way.  

Bill Jones, main of instrumentality enforcement astatine the California Department of Cannabis Control, told CNN the illicit weed cognition successful Antioch is mostly tally by 'the Chinese transgression syndicate'. 

In fact, the cognition is truthful extended that instrumentality enforcement believes determination are much Chinese nationals wrong the amerciable marijuana commercialized than pack members from Mexican cartels.

However, Vanda Felbab-Brown, a Brookings Institute adept connected planetary crime, told CNN that Chinese and Mexican transgression groups besides often enactment unneurotic to postulation Chinese migrants into the US for enactment successful the amerciable weed trade. 

She told CNN the US authorities urgently needs to summation its surveillance of the issue. 

'We person been prioritizing China subject decision-making, but Chinese organized transgression and organized transgression much broadly has not been a precocious precedence successful quality collection,' Felbab-Brown said. 

'That needs to change.'   

The underground marijuana commercialized successful Antioch is conscionable the extremity of the iceberg representing a state-wide occupation crossed California. 

Golden State criminals recovered blameworthy of dealing immoderate magnitude of amerciable weed volition lone look misdemeanor charges, isolated from successful utmost cases. 

Exceptions see if the illicit marijuana was sold to a child, oregon if the culprit was already a registered enactment offender. 

Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue, whose bluish California territory is crawling with the amerciable trade, told CNN:  'You tin person 7 plants oregon 70,000 plants and it inactive is that aforesaid misdemeanor violation.

'It's really conscionable a joke.'

In fact, the authorities is liable for producing astir 40 percent of the nation's weed, according to economist Beau Whitney, and 75 percent of this system is illegal.  

California legalized recreational marijuana successful 2016, but sellers who skirt the rules, fees and taxes progressive successful operating wrong the highly-regulated ineligible commercialized person proliferated since.