BONANZA — The Saguache County Sheriff’s office and Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officials executed a search warrant Thursday afternoon in rural Bonanza arresting six individuals illegally growing marijuana and confiscating between 1200-1500 plants.

Estimated worth of the confiscated plants was $5 million, Saguache Sheriff Dan Warwick said. The product filled 10-12 pick-up trucks and was then loaded into a Saguache County Road and Bridge dump truck for disposal at an undisclosed location.

The execution of the search warrant followed a two-month investigation after the Saguache Sheriff’s office received a tip from local Bonanza residents about unusual traffic on the roadways. Warwick says it is his intention to send a message to those growing illegally in the county.

Warwick said one individual told him at a meeting held earlier this year to discuss marijuana regulations that if the sheriff’s office wanted to know what they were growing, to get a search warrant. “So that’s exactly what we did,” Warwick said, warning residents to follow the laws regarding marijuana growth and cultivation or face the consequences.

Photo by Teresa Benns

Law enforcement officials load marijuana plants into a Saguache County Road and Bridge dump truck Thursday afternoon in Bonanza after executing a search warrant on an illegal marijuana grow there