11.5 Hectare Marijuana Farm Destroyed in Durango

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

A remote marijuana farm capable of producing over 14 tons of cannabis.

Federal security agents secured a marijuana plantation with an area of ​​11.5 hectares in the municipality of Tamazula, Durango, which was secured and later destroyed to prevent its commercialization.

Through an operation carried out by the Secretary of National Defense (Sedena), elements of the Mexican Army moved to an isolated area of ​​the entity, which is located three hours from Los Remedios and El Palmar, towns near the San Lorenzo River.

The site is surrounded by mountains and rocky areas, which makes it impossible to access by car, so those who worked on the plantation had to walk several hours from their homes to reach the valley where the grass was grown.

In an interview with the weekly newspaper Ríodoce, Commander Alejandro Bravo Martínez, head of the 110th Infantry Battalion, announced that for every hectare planted, some 1,200 kilograms of marijuana could be recovered, which could be marketed in the country for a price of 4 thousand pesos per ton.

NOTE: The original article price estimates for the production of the farm seem extremely low. In Spanish, the article states "4 mil pesos" which translates directly to 4,000. It is unlikely the original author meant to write millon (million) as 'mil' was also used to describe the kilo quantities.

According to indexes for Mexico on Price of Weed, an ounce of mid-grade/medium quality can sell at a retail level in Mexico anywhere from $50 to $250 USD or around 1,000 to 5,000 pesos.

When many US states, most notably California began to legalize marijuana in 2016; the price per kilo of Mexican weed plummeted from $100 to around $30 USD per kilo. 

It is reported by a BB commenter that 907 kilos cost around 100,000 - 130,000 MXN if bought in mountains.

In the same way, he assured that 1,500 members of the Army are deployed in the area for surveillance and crime prevention tasks, who were mobilized for the security and subsequent destruction of the plantation.

He stated that the eradication is throughout the country but there are four areas in which they focus, one is the Badiraguato Special Command, the other is the Third Military Region that covers Sinaloa and Durango and the third is the Guerrero operation in the state of Guerrero.

The crops, he indicated, were located by elements of the Air Force that carry out overflights mainly where there are tributaries. He explained that this area is conducive to the planting of drugs due to the climate and the conditions of the land.

When they detect a plantation, he explained, with an application, they record the location, the density and send images of the plantation and the eradication to the Attorney General of the Republic.

He commented that the plants are uprooted manually because if they cut them with a machete they will sprout again.

Sources Infobae, Riodoce, Prices of Weed, The World