A multi-agency investigation led to the eradication of an illegal outdoor marijuana growing operation in northeastern Nye County.
As stated in a Nye County Sheriff’s Office video news release, Operations Sgt. Ann Horak said the sheriff’s office partnered with the U.S. Forest Service, along with other outside agencies on the operation in Irwin Canyon, on Sept. 14.
The site is roughly 287 miles northeast of Pahrump.
“The growing operation was discovered to be unoccupied although it appeared that grow workers had recently been there,” Horak said. “A total of 5,742 plants were discovered and eradicated. Outdoor plants such as these have an average estimated weight of one pound or more of finished product. This could have equated to 6,000 pounds of finished product, and $15 million in value. These grows are predominantly operated by major drug cartels.”
Horak also noted that the operation poses a very serious environmental impact to the land where the grows are conducted.
“Large amounts of dangerous chemicals and pesticides were discovered,” she said. “At this particular grow, the forest trees had been topped to allow sunlight onto the marijuana plants. These trees have no chance of survival once they have been topped in this manner.”
Anyone with information regarding possible suspects in the illegal growing operation is urged to contact the Nye County Sheriff’s Office at 775-751-7000 and ask for the detectives’ division or contact the U.S. Forest Service Las Vegas field office.
Information can also be passed along via email to the sheriff’s office to sheriff@co.nye.nv.us
Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com, on Twitter: @pvtimes