18th illegal grow operation discovered in Pueblo County

Pueblo County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested a 26-year-old man Tuesday, after discovering he was growing marijuana illegally in his Pueblo West home.

Kevin Pedrez was arrested for illegal cultivation of marijuana after deputies executed a search warrant at his home at 536 Saunders Drive and found nearly 50 marijuana plants growing in the basement and garage of his home. Deputies also found evidence to indicate Pedrez was selling marijuana to others.

A citizen contacted the Sheriff’s Office about the grow after noticing recently there were large ventilation ports and extensive wiring added to the house, along with a strong odor of marijuana coming from the home.

Deputies went to the home on Tuesday and contacted Pedrez, who admitted he was growing marijuana for his own medicinal purposes. Pedrez said he had a medical marijuana license but it had expired. Paperwork indicated the license expired in May 2015. Pedrez said he was in the process of getting the license re-issued.

In searching the home, deputies found 43 marijuana plants growing in the basement of the home and another four plants growing in the garage. There were also 25 dried marijuana stocks from recently cultivated plants found in the garage. The garage was equipped with extensive lighting and ventilation system to sustain a much larger grow operation.

This is the 18th illegal grow operation uncovered by the Sheriff’s Office in the past eight weeks. There have been 26 arrests made and nearly 5,200 marijuana plants confiscated since March 14 in Pueblo County.