Sheriff addresses illegal marijuana grow concerns in Pueblo West

The sting of illegal marijuana grows being busted in Pueblo West is concerning people in the district.

The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office said 10 illegal pot grows have been busted since last month. Nine of those grows were in Pueblo West.

“These people that are (operating) these illegal grows, I don’t think they participate in the community. They come from out of town and they are here for business and to distribute illegal marijuana to other parts of the country,” Pueblo West resident Robert Tibbs said.

Community members and Pueblo County Sheriff Kirk Taylor hope to ease those concerns.

“I think people are unsettled. They are afraid. They are apprehensive about what’s going on because they had no idea (about the illegal marijuana grows),” meeting organizer Emily Price said.

Taylor said the meeting was meant to educate people and let them know about the recent busts and what the Sheriff’s Office is continuing to do with the illegal grows.

The sheriff said the reason why there have been so many busts in a short amount of time, is the community became more aware since emergency crews busted a grow operation that had more than $7 million worth of marijuana inside five homes.

“Once we busted those in conjunction with DEA, that’s when the community really came up front and said ‘Hey my neighbor has this outbuilding with all this piping coming out of it and different types of things,'” Taylor said.

He hopes more people like Tubbs can be more aware to take down any more illegal grows in Pueblo West.

Taylor said some of the concerns first responders face when they go inside the illegal grows are electrical problems, building damage and explosive materials.