On Wednesday morning at 6 a.m., authorities discovered what appears to be the largest outdoor marijuana grow operation that Virginia has ever seen.
Located in a hard-to-find area of Bull Mountain, the grow operation contained a total of 30,255 plants spread out over 35 areas, WDBJ7 reports. Apparently suspects made a network of trail systems to reach the remote area undetected. The closest public road was two miles away.
The suspects were nowhere to be found, but officers from Patrick County say that evidence left behind at the scene indicates that the scheme was Mexican-run, according to Sheriff Dan Smith.
Previous busts in Patrick County haven’t come close to matching the amount nabbed by law enforcement over the past couple of days. In 2011, police found a grow operation of 3,700 plants.
State police and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms quickly converged on the area and by Thursday at 1 p.m., all plants were confiscated. The plants seized were relatively small, only reaching as high as two feet, but even at that height, the street value is estimated to be anywhere between $30 million to $105 million dollars.
“This is just another example of how we will work with other agencies to suppress crime in our community, I am proud of this office,” Sheriff Smith said.
The investigation is still unfolding. Among state and local agents present at the scene, none had ever heard of a bigger bust in Virginia.
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