Teller Co. Sheriff Office busts 3 illegal marijuana operations worth $1 million

Three houses were busted with illegal marijuana operations on Wednesday. The first two near Divide, and the last in Woodland Park.

Inside Sheriff Deputies found “over 100 marijuana plants” and “80 pounds of processed marijuana for shipping,” all of that valued at over one million dollars.

Inside the first house near Divide, Colo., a basement was transformed into a grow room. Deputies found dozens of plants all catered to by a water system installed in the house.

Commander Greg Couch with the Teller County Sheriff’s office says, “you’ll see sheeting on the walls to reflect the heat and the light. What you’re hearing inside is a bunch of fans to keep the air moving, and there’s some grow lights on the ceiling in here with a bunch of bags of fertilizer. And it looked like they had a closed loop water system feeding all the plants.”

The second house also near Divide, Colo. had a garage transformed into what looked like a greenhouse. Deputies say it had the capacity to hold 100 plants.

Teller County Sheriff, Jason Mikesell says, “Any of this marijuana that’s taken from the homes that we did search warrants on today, they’re not made to go to folks that are buying it legally within the state. This is to provide marijuana on the black market.”

This effort to crack down on illegal marijuana grows is part of the Sheriff’s initiative to drive organized crime out of the area.