Feds Pluck Two Acres of Marijuana After Enormous Drug Bust

HOUSTON, Texas — Border Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents spent two days plucking marijuana plants from the ground after discovering two acres of the crop growing on a large plot of land in South Texas. 

The fields were discovered about 45 minutes north of Brownsville just outside of a town called Raymondville, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stated.

The Associated Press (AP) reported that there was a total of 11,500 plants growing on the grounds, which yielded almost 5 tons of marijuana. According to ICE, the crops had a total street value of about $10 million. 

HSI Special Agent in Charge Janice Ayala said in a statement that the incident marked the largest marijuana bust ever in the greater Brownsville area. 

“This is the largest grow field of marijuana seized in this area,” Ayala said. “HSI and its Federal and State/Local partners will continue to invest significant resources to identify additional co-conspirators, illegal proceeds and other assets associated with this illicit scheme.”

Breitbart Texas has learned that at this time, it is unknown who planted the crops. 

ICE spokeswoman Nina Pruneda told Breitbart Texas, “It’s been a while since we’ve seen a marijana seizure this large in the South Texas. We’re still looking for the individuals responsible for this, so the investigation does continue. Nobody has been charged with this crime at this time.”

Marijuana growing operations tend to be infrequent in South Texas, according to the AP. This is likely due to the significant flow of drugs flowing through the Texas-Mexico border on a regular basis. 

Large parts of Texas’ southern border have been especially porous lately, amid the border crisis in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Sector. Breitbart Texas Managing Director Brandon Darby recently reported that in one Texas Border Patrol sector, up to 70 percent of Border Patrol agents are currently taking care of the influx of unaccompanied minors from Central America, instead of manning the border; rural areas outside of the RGV Sector tend to be especially unsecured. 

Breitbart Texas recently took a large group of grassroots activists on a border trip, to show firsthand just how porous it really is. Breitbart Texas Managing Director Brandon Darby said, “The federal government, the State of Texas, and the media have presented a picture that the increase in security in the Rio Grande Valley sector is somehow representative of an increase in security along all of Texas’ border with Mexico. The Laredo sector is the next sector over and it is largely wide open. We wanted grassroots leaders to witness for themselves what the reality is and we wanted them to feel what the often solo agents feel out there along the river.”

Follow Kristin Tate on Twitter @KristinBTate.