grow bust in Boulder County (near Lyons)

Boulder County SWAT team hunting suspect who fled marijuana operation - Boulder Daily Camera

SWAT teams from Boulder County, Larimer County and Longmont are searching for a suspect "known to be heavily armed" in the mountains west of Lyons after the man fled from officers who were in the area searching for a reported marijuana-growing operation.

Boulder County sheriff's officials say they received a tip last week that hikers had stumbled on a marijuana grow near the towns of Riverside and Raymond.

Sgt. Mike Dimond said, "It's not your typcial marijuana grow, where there are just a few plants. This was a more professional set-up."

The Boulder County Drug Task Force was in the area today conducting surveillance when officers say a man flee the area. Dimond said the suspect -- a 5-foot-6, 150-pound Hispanic male -- is believed to be armed.

More than 20 officers are involved, and a helicopter is being sought to aid in the search. Sheriff's officials have asked the Air National Guard for assistance, but that has been turned down because of windy conditions, according to police scanner traffic.

"It's a very mountainous, rugged area," sheriff's Cmdr. Heidi Prentu said.
Authorities are staging at the Raymond Store and Cabins on Riverside Drive. An officer met with Jerry Brooks, who runs the store.

"They're pretty tight-lipped about it," Brooks said. "It's not a practice. It's the real thing. It's kind of mysterious."

Man I haven't ran that fast in years!:wtf:

keep runnin!

they found the rest-
Boulder County SWAT officers return to mountains to find more marijuana - Boulder Daily Camera

comment at the link above as well..

SWAT teams with the Boulder County Sheriff's Office and Longmont Police Department are back in the mountains west of Lyons today looking for more marijuana plants and collecting about 3,000 plants that they've already uprooted from the U.S. Forest Service land.

Officers found the plants, worth about $500,000, during a massive search Monday for a man â??known to be heavily armedâ?� and suspected of being involved in the illegal growing operation near the towns of Raymond and Riverside. Although they didn't find the suspect â?? described as a 5-foot, 6-inch Hispanic man weighing about 150 pounds â?? officers discovered evidence that several people are involved in the operation, sheriff's Cmdr. Rick Brough said.

He said that within a day, officers are planning to airlift large piles of 3½- to 5 ½-foot-tall marijuana plants out of the rugged backcountry. The plants could be wrapped in cargo nets attached to helicopters, Brough said.

The Sheriff's Office is working with the U.S. Forest Service to determine whether the operation is connected to any other illegal marijuana grows found on Forest Service land in Colorado or around the nation in the past few years, Brough said.

Last summer, the U.S. Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Region seized nearly 20,000 marijuana plants from national forest land in Colorado. At the time, officials said the growing operations were funded and run by international drug cartels.

A hiker stumbled upon the grow near Lyons last week and notified the Sheriff's Office. Monday's search started after deputies with the county's Drug Task Force went to conduct surveillance in the area and saw a man running away, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Authorities said the operation had a â??professional set-up,â?� and the Sheriff's Office received information that it â??could be attended on a regular basisâ?� by people who are armed.

I wonder how this will get spun to be anti-MMJ.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cologrower420

I wonder how this will get spun to be anti-MMJ.

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They'll say he was a caregiver.

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Originally Posted by SprngsCaregiver

They'll say he was a caregiver.

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with an exception for expanded plant counts to make hash and edibles..:)

letter to the editor and discussion about the op:
Letters to the Editor - Sept. 2 - Boulder Daily Camera