Burning marijuana leaves leads to bust, arrest in Pueblo West

A barrel full of burning marijuana leaves led to the bust of an illegal grow at a Pueblo West home on Monday.

The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office got a call from a citizen on Monday afternoon about a trash barrel on fire and the smell of marijuana coming from a home in the 1300 block of W. Ferncliff Court.

When deputies arrived at the home, they spoke with a woman who admitted that she had marijuana on the property and that her husband, Stephen Robert Young, Jr., was burning marijuana leaves in a trash barrel.

The woman then led deputies to Young who was standing near a detached garage. Young took them inside and showed deputies four separate rooms containing numerous marijuana plants.

While executing a search warrant, deputies seized 98 marijuana plants, grow equipment and other gear typically used in butane hash oil production.

Young did not have a license to grow. He was arrested for three drug felonies including cultivation of marijuana, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, and extraction of marijuana. After further investigation, investigators found that Young was already on probation in the Fourth Judicial District in El Paso County for marijuana-related convictions out of Kansas.

He has been booked into the El Paso County Jail.

The woman was not arrested.