Authorities are looking for four men who fled as officers moved in to destroy two marijuana grow areas in the Pike National Forest near Deckers on Wednesday.
Officials found 4,400 marijuana plants with an estimated value of more than $8 million, according to a news release from the U.S. Forest Service and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
Firearms were located at the grow areas, which might have connections with Mexican drug cartels, said Douglas County sheriff’s spokeswoman Cocha Heyden.
Large-scale marijuana cultivation areas have been repeatedly discovered on national- forest lands in Colorado. Last year, nine grows were raided and 23,824 plants were destroyed. Last month, authorities raided a huge grow operation in Boulder County, near Allenspark.
