The Pima County Sheriff's Department concluded a month-long marijuana investigation on Tuesday in which they found more than 1,100 marijuana plants, according to a press release.
The department's Narcotic and Special Investigations Section shut down an indoor grow operation on the northwest side of town.
Search warrants were obtained for two locations in the 3200 block of East Skyline Drive and the 7000 block of North Corrida de Venado.
1,106 marijuana plants were found in a rented home on the 7000 block of N. Corrida de Venado, a small street in the foothills.
A supervisor with the Narcotics and Special Investigations Section of the sheriff's department tells Nine On Your Side this is the largest indoor grow operation of its kind they have ever seen in the county.
The supervisor says the two men involved rented the home, but did not live there. Instead, they used all the space inside to grow marijuana.
The supervisor says the type of marijuana they grew is very different from anything that is smuggled from Mexico. It is significantly more potent and much more expensive.
A bundle of marijuana from Mexico will cost between $400 and $500 per pound, but the supervisor says the strains grown in the foothills home will cost between $1,000 and $2,500 per pound.
In addition to the marijuana plants, the supervisor says they had some of the best equipment available for processing the drugs.
They men processed the marijuana for other uses than smoking. Deputies also found a "Hash" processing room where the suspects were producing "Hash oil" and "Hash wax."
Authorities found more processed marijuana in vacuum sealed bags at the East Skyline location. PCSD also found a hand-gun and $1000 in cash. This location was not a grow facility but was the home of one of the suspects.
The two suspects who were arrested in connection with this operation have been identified as 31-year-old Patrick McDonald and 37-year-old Kyle Sorensen. Both suspects have been booked into Pima County Adult Detention Complex on multiple felony charges.
