Agents find marijuana farm in NE New Mexico

Posted at: 09/29/2009 9:24 PM | Updated at: 09/29/2009 10:25 PM
By: Eric Kahnert, Eyewitness News 4; Matthew Kappus, KOB.com

The DEA says this farm had $2 million worth of marijuana

Federal agents said they've found a huge marijuana farm with millions of dollars worth of pot which could have headed to Albuquerque.

The DEA says the farm near Tucumcari was so elaborate that growers had built caves and make-shift homes at the site. Agents found 350 marijuana plants there.

The feds say the pot was just about ready to be cultivated and could have been on its way to Albuquerque. Its estimated street value: $2 million.

"They had running water from a mountain spring out there, they had grills, and barbecue grills, stoves, food, tents, and little cave dwellings and such." said Edward Knoth of the DEA in Albuquerque.

The feds got a tip the marijuana growing operation was located 20 miles north of Tucumcari. So last Friday, they made their move with the help of National Guard helicopters.

"As the helicopters moved in, we did note a couple of people running from the area," Knoth said.

While they didn't catch any of the pot growers, they did find 350 fully grown marijuana plants ready to be cut down and sold on the streets for millions.

"I would say people were living there the past three, four months, during the growing season, tending to the plants making sure they're getting the right water, the right fertilizers," Knoth said.

The feds think the field has been used to produce pot for the past several years and say there's likely a dozen people involved.

"They got away for the time being, but we're investigating that and following up on it," Knoth said.

Regionally, federal narcotics investigators have seen an uptick in the number of large-scale marijuana grows.

"The economic downturn over the past few years, marijuana is a real cash crop, I mean there's a lot of money involved in it," Knoth said.

The plants at the Tucumcari site were soaked down and buried near a landfill site. The DEA hopes to make arrests by the end of the year.

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