Cops chasing illegal immigrants near the US-Mexico border stumble across 2 acre marijuana farm


The land was located near the US Mexico border in Texas and was once used to grow watermelons and grain
Stunned officers discovered 8-foot tall marijuana plants on the pot farm which had a sophisticated irrigation system rigged up to it
Police said that illegal immigrants were probably used to work and look after the pot farm
An investigation is underway, but no one has been charged yet in the pot growing operation


By BELINDA ROBINSON
PUBLISHED: 14:46 EST, 23 August 2014 | UPDATED: 15:11 EST, 23 August 2014

Police officers who were chasing two illegal immigrants near the US-Mexico border were stunned when they stumbled across a marijuana farm spread across two acres of prime land.

The officers had been pursuing the illegal immigrants about 15 miles southwest of Raymondville in Texas.

But they got much more than they bargained for when they stumbled across a farm with rows of 8-foot tall marijuana plants just 25 miles from the US-Mexico border on the Texas side.



Maintenance: Long irrigated rows that once held 11,500 marijuana plants are spread over two acres near Raymondville, Texas

Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence said: 'I haven't seen anything like this. I've seen where guys would hollow out a place in the brush in their backyard or something close to their house, just a little bit.

'But this was quite spread out and dense and most of them were already pretty high.'

The farm had once been used to grow watermelons and grain.

The farm was well tended too and had white pipes and a pump diverting water from a canal which delivered to the 60-foot long rows by carefully excavated trenches.

Mark Dawson, Homeland Security Investigations deputy special agent in charge of Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley, was shocked by the quality of the irrigation system.

He said he hadn't encountered something like this in his 17 years in the area.

Mr Dawson said: 'I guess we shouldn't be surprised by how well it was done considering it's the Rio Grande Valley and people down there are very experienced in irrigation and just growing (fruits and vegetables) in general.'

Every year, tons of marijuana crosses the border daily from Mexico and large-scale growing operations are routinely found.

Last month, authorities dismantled a massive pot farm in the woods about 70 miles northeast of Houston that yielded 100,000 plants.

But such a large crop so close to the border is unheard of, according to authorities.




Water: A section of pipe that was used to irrigate a two-acre marijuana farm is hidden in the brush


Derelict: An abandoned milking barn where immigrants were being held is located on the pot farm



Interior: Rotten foam covers the floor of an abandoned milking barn where immigrants had been held near Raymondville, Texas

The 11,500-plant farm was located nearly a mile from a paved road, on an old dairy farm long left to its own devices.
A well-kept citrus grove sat across the dirt road, and horses browsed in a pasture nearby.

The marijuana was on the back portion of the overgrown parcel and authorities had to plow a road in just to access it.
Adjacent to the field of pot were small shelters which were carefully camouflaged with branches.

Officers found an empty case of instant noodles, scattered egg shells and a 50-pound bag of fertilizer in them.

Nearby, a large black plastic tarp could be unfurled for shade - most likely for the immigrant pot farm workers.

According to police, the crop's owners would have soon brought in another valuable harvest of a dozen immigrants if they weren't rumbled by officers who ran straight into the pot farm on August 13.

The night before, a man dialed 911 and claimed that he had been held, beaten and threatened in a stash house for three weeks.

He tried to lead sheriff's deputies back to the spot, but couldn't find it in the dark.

Authorities returned in the daylight and found more than they bargained for when they pursued the immigrants down twisting paths.

According to police, the man and other immigrants were likely forced to care for the marijuana plants, as three weeks is an unusually long time to be held in a stash house.

Three men were arrested on immigrant harboring charges, but prosecutors dropped cases against two of them earlier this week and the third waived his preliminary hearing in federal court.



Miracle grow: An empty fertilizer bag is left behind at the two-acre pot farm
No one has been charged yet in the pot growing operation.

But an investigation is underway by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
However, it is still too early to know why the location was selected.

Local farmer Javier Davila of Edinburg has his own theory.

He said that the owners of the pot farm probably used that piece of land because they had more security on the border.
He believes that they grew the weed close to the border to able to cross over with it.

Mr Davila had not farmed that parcel of his family's land since 1996.

He has another 40 acres next door and has told Border Patrol before that he suspected immigrants were passing through the land because he found water bottles, food cans and backpacks.

Last year, the Texas Domestic Cannabis Program, in which local and federal law enforcement agencies participate, eradicated 147,277 outdoor cultivated plants in 24 separate seizures.
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