Authorities find 4,500 marijuana plants in La Paz County

Authoritiesin La Paz County early Tuesday morning.

Detectives from the Arizona Department of Public Safety, in conjunction with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the LaPaz County Narcotics Task Force  said they discovered a very  large and sophisticated marijuana field. The field they discovered contained approximately 4,500 marijuana plants and was  growing along the Centennial Wash near Wenden.

The plants were located in four separate grows throughout the one-acre site and plants ranged from 3 to 6 feet high, The entire site had a security fence that surrounded the field. Each of the four grows had its own irrigation system powered by a pump that emitted water through an underground watering drip system.

Authorities sad that if cultivated, the field could easily have produced 400 pounds of usable marijuana with an estimated street value of $100,000 in Arizona.

“This eradication operation means that thousands of marijuana plants never made it into our neighborhoods,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Doug Coleman. “DEA will continue to support our law enforcement partners in attacking all aspects of drug trafficking and the violence that goes hand in hand with the distribution of these harmful substances.”

The plants have since been destroyed.