EPC Sheriff’s Office releases 2019 black market marijuana stats
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) - Nearly 6,000 illegally grown marijuana plants were seized by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office in 2019.
The Sheriff's Office released all of the numbers Tuesday regarding drug busts within the marijuana black market over the last year.
KRDO crews spoke to one of the lieutenants in charge of the drug enforcement unit at the Sheriff's Office, who said it's certainly not all about the illegal marijuana; they're also worried about the even more serious crimes that comes with it.
"A lot of these people are oftentimes involved in human trafficking. And to be quite honest, they are being human trafficked," said Lt. Paul Mynatt.
In those cases, Lt. Mynatt said they provide the people with victim advocates.
He said illegal guns are also often found during these drug raids - explaining that those are the dangers that come with the territory of illegal drug trafficking.
It’s legal to grow and sell marijuana here in Colorado, but only with a license, which comes with a hefty price tag.
So, Mynatt says people come from out of state, grow it here illegally, and try to blend in with the legal growers.
Then, he says, they ship the pot back home for profit.
"We see them primarily from the east coast. Highway 94 and highway 24 have been identified as some corridors that are used to traffic," Mynatt said.
The Sheriff’s Office decided to put more manpower behind drug enforcement starting in 2018.
Mynatt says the results of that extra effort are already showing.
The number of arrest warrants dropped from 105 to 79 last year, and the number of arrests decreased from 51 to 27.
But, do the lower numbers mean law enforcement is getting better, or are the suspects just getting smarter?
Lieutenant Mynatt says oftentimes investigators will find out the suspects somehow knew they were coming.
"The word kind of got out that the El Paso County Sheriff's Office was tackling this effort pretty good, and we show up to some houses and they're already gone sometimes," he said.
Regardless of the reason those numbers went down, Lt. Mynatt is staying positive about the job that’s been done, but also realistic.
"I'm honestly proud of the work that we did. We are seeing a decline, but I don’t think it’s a problem that’s ever going to completely go away."
Black market marijuana grows have been on the radar here in Colorado for the last several years.
Lieutenant Mynatt says the illegal practice has now popped up in Iowa and other nearby states.
