A 32-year-old man suspected of operating an indoor marijuana grow west of Murrieta where deputies seized roughly 1,000 cannabis plants was out of custody Thursday.

Fuxian Liu was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of illegal cultivation of marijuana. He was issued a criminal citation, ordering him to appear before a magistrate on Feb. 9 at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.

According to Riverside County sheriff’s Sgt. Jeff Reese, earlier this month, deputies were alerted to a possible grow in the 35000 block of Avenida La Cresta, near Clinton Keith Road, within the unincorporated community of La Cresta.

A search warrant was served at the two-story residence, where deputies found plants “in various stages of growth,” Reese said.

Liu was allegedly tending to the indoor grow and was taken into custody without incident, according to the sergeant.

The plants were hauled out of the house and taken to a secure location for destruction and disposal.

Deputies have conducted numerous marijuana raids throughout the year in La Cresta, around Horsethief Canyon and other pockets of southwest Riverside County. Both outdoor and indoor cultivation sites have been targeted.

The county has not issued a single permit authorizing commercial-scale cannabis cultivation operations of any kind since the marijuana regulatory framework took effect two years ago. Only distribution outlets have been issued permits, in areas specifically zoned for businesses.

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