MOORPARK (CBSLA.com) — Ventura County Sheriff’s deputies reported seizing an estimated $3 million worth of marijuana plants Monday in the brush behind Moorpark College.

Deputies confiscated more than 3,000 plants from an illegal pot farm on private property, Sgt. Eric Buschow said.

Buschow said that kind of operation can be dangerous for unassuming landowners — like the rancher in this case — who stumble upon the growth.

“Imagine you own a piece of land, and you’re trying to bring your cattle down for water and, suddenly, you find there’s this criminal enterprise that’s going on right on your property. And these people are typically armed, working for the cartels, growing it for the cartels,” Buschow said.

Investigators found a makeshift camp at the site, which even had a pan of food still on the stove.

Deputies used a helicopter to remove all the plants.