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BOULDER COUNTY - The illegal marijuana grow operation discovered by a hiker west of Lyons has now grown to two sites containing around 7,500 plants, which are worth about $1 million according to authorities.
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The Boulder County Sheriff's Office and Longmont Police Department say the second grow site discovered on Tuesday covers about 5 acres of U.S. Forest Service land and contains about 4,000 plants.
Authorities found the original marijuana grow site southeast of Raymond where they say about 3,000 marijuana plants were growing with a well-organized, sophisticated irrigation system. Initially, it was reported there was about 30 plants. They say the plants are between 3 and 6 feet tall with a street value of $500,000. Combined with the value of the plants found at the second grow site, the entire crop has a street value of $1 million, officials say.
The two grow sites are believed to be maintained by the same people because authorities say the two sites are close enough together and have the same irrigation system.
On Monday, authorities were tipped by a hiker who stumbled upon the growing operation. When a task force went to the area Monday, they saw a man fleeing the area. The suspect is described as Hispanic, 5 feet 6 inches tall and 150 pounds.
Authorities do not know if the man is armed, but say he could be dangerous.
After searching the area, deputies say the camping equipment found at the scene indicate there were more people involved in the growing operation. Authorities say they didn't find any evidence which would have indicated the people involved were armed.
Investigators were back on scene on Tuesday collecting plants and searching for any evidence of more grows in the area, and brought in a helicopter to help search.
"What they did today is they wanted to go up and do more searching up there because in the past, what we've been told is that when you have a grow like this in an isolated area, a lot of times there is another grow, or maybe even more than one grow, so they began searching with a helicopter," Cmdr. Rick Brough with the Boulder County Sheriff's Office said.
Authorities say this discovery of about 7,500 plants is the largest on public lands since August 2009, when more than 14,000 plants were found in the Pike National Forest.
Deputies say this year's grow was located on land belonging to the U.S. Forest Service, Boulder County Open Space and a private land owner.
A spokesperson for the DEA says Colorado is seeing less marijuana confiscated from public lands than other states. Utah has confiscated more than 100,000 plants so far this year. One theory as to why Colorado is seeing less is because medical marijuana can be grown legally in many communities.
But the thousands of plants near Raymond will be leaving soon.
"Tomorrow we'll most likely try to airlift them out to where we can take them to somewhere where they can be destroyed," Brough said.
The Colorado National Guard will be providing two helicopters on Wednesday morning to airlift the marijuana to a loading area, where it will be taken by truck to a site to be destroyed, according to authorities.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: 9NEWS.com | Denver | Colorado's Online News Leader | Breaking News, Local News, World News and more...
Author: Jeffrey Wolf
Contact: 9NEWS.com | Denver | Colorado's Online News Leader | Contact 9NEWS
Copyright: 010 Multimedia Holdings Corporation
Website:9NEWS.com | Denver | Colorado's Online News Leader | $1 million in marijuana found near Lyons
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The Boulder County Sheriff's Office and Longmont Police Department say the second grow site discovered on Tuesday covers about 5 acres of U.S. Forest Service land and contains about 4,000 plants.
Authorities found the original marijuana grow site southeast of Raymond where they say about 3,000 marijuana plants were growing with a well-organized, sophisticated irrigation system. Initially, it was reported there was about 30 plants. They say the plants are between 3 and 6 feet tall with a street value of $500,000. Combined with the value of the plants found at the second grow site, the entire crop has a street value of $1 million, officials say.
The two grow sites are believed to be maintained by the same people because authorities say the two sites are close enough together and have the same irrigation system.
On Monday, authorities were tipped by a hiker who stumbled upon the growing operation. When a task force went to the area Monday, they saw a man fleeing the area. The suspect is described as Hispanic, 5 feet 6 inches tall and 150 pounds.
Authorities do not know if the man is armed, but say he could be dangerous.
After searching the area, deputies say the camping equipment found at the scene indicate there were more people involved in the growing operation. Authorities say they didn't find any evidence which would have indicated the people involved were armed.
Investigators were back on scene on Tuesday collecting plants and searching for any evidence of more grows in the area, and brought in a helicopter to help search.
"What they did today is they wanted to go up and do more searching up there because in the past, what we've been told is that when you have a grow like this in an isolated area, a lot of times there is another grow, or maybe even more than one grow, so they began searching with a helicopter," Cmdr. Rick Brough with the Boulder County Sheriff's Office said.
Authorities say this discovery of about 7,500 plants is the largest on public lands since August 2009, when more than 14,000 plants were found in the Pike National Forest.
Deputies say this year's grow was located on land belonging to the U.S. Forest Service, Boulder County Open Space and a private land owner.
A spokesperson for the DEA says Colorado is seeing less marijuana confiscated from public lands than other states. Utah has confiscated more than 100,000 plants so far this year. One theory as to why Colorado is seeing less is because medical marijuana can be grown legally in many communities.
But the thousands of plants near Raymond will be leaving soon.
"Tomorrow we'll most likely try to airlift them out to where we can take them to somewhere where they can be destroyed," Brough said.
The Colorado National Guard will be providing two helicopters on Wednesday morning to airlift the marijuana to a loading area, where it will be taken by truck to a site to be destroyed, according to authorities.
NewsHawk: MedicalNeed: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: 9NEWS.com | Denver | Colorado's Online News Leader | Breaking News, Local News, World News and more...
Author: Jeffrey Wolf
Contact: 9NEWS.com | Denver | Colorado's Online News Leader | Contact 9NEWS
Copyright: 010 Multimedia Holdings Corporation
Website:9NEWS.com | Denver | Colorado's Online News Leader | $1 million in marijuana found near Lyons
