#IRS:CI ASAC Amanda Prestegard presented checks to the Cortez Colorado Police Department & Montezuma County Colorado Sheriff’s Office from assets seized from an illegal marijuana growing operation. Interagency partnerships between @IRS_CI& local #lawenforcement are vital to dismantling drugs.

Back Story ;  In November of 2016, narcotics investigators from the Cortez Police Department and the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office were alerted to a possible large-scale marijuana grow located in rural areas of Montezuma County.  After conducting months of surveillance and background investigations,  it was determined this marijuana grow was quite large in scale (encompassing three large properties in the county and a residence in the City of Cortez) and that the illegal enterprise involved an Asian Trans National Drug Trafficking Organization.

During the initial investigation conducted by Detective Tom Quinnett of the Cortez Police Department and Travis Peck of the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office, it was learned that large quantities of this illegal marijuana were bound for the east coast and areas outside of Colorado where marijuana is still illegal. Realizing the scope of this investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration,  Colorado Bureau of Investigations Black Market Marijuana Team were brought in along with numerous other Federal and State agencies to tackle this investigation. 

In August of 2018, after a multi-year investigation, multiple search warrants were executed simultaneously on four separate residences. (Three in the county and one in the city) Personnel from the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office, Cortez Police Department, Colorado Bureau of Investigations, Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service, Colorado State Patrol and other State and Federal agencies participated in the execution of these warrants.

This year’s long investigation resulted in the seizure of 20+ tons of raw marijuana including 4,304 plants, 560 pounds of processed marijuana, nearly a half million dollars in cash, and multiple gold bars. Additionally, multiple arrests were made of people associated with and running this drug trafficking organization. Located on the expansive grow sites were evidence of large-scale marijuana production including marijuana grow equipment and hazardous chemicals used in the production of marijuana. 

Due to the scope and size of this operation, its dismantling was only possible with the help of our State and Federal partners. Hundreds of hours of manpower were dedicated to the safe and successful conclusion of this operation. Joint operations such as this only serve to make the citizens of Cortez and Montezuma County safer moving forward. These kinds of illegal operations introduce noxious chemicals into our landscape, pollute our irrigation water and present a clear and present danger to the population of our county.