Cops torch Lake Co. pot field worth $6 million

Lake County drug enforcement officials are trying to determine the owners of about 4,000 marijuana plants discovered in a heavily wooded area near North Chicago and later destroyed.

Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group Deputy Director Jeffrey Padilla said the plant growing operation was in an area just east of Route 41 and north of Route 137. The plants were burned late Friday.

"It had a street value of about $6 million, and burning it made a huge impact," Padilla said. "I'm sure it hit (the owners) in the pocket book."

Padilla said MEG agents were doing a routine air inspection of wooded areas in Lake County when they stumbled across the plant field Wednesday. The plants were hidden among trees and brush about a half-mile off the roadways, he said.

After discovering the operation, MEG officials were looking for a safe route into the growing area on Thursday when a suspect was seen tending to the plants, Padilla said.

He said no cars were noticed in the area before officials saw the person tending to the plants.

"He was either irrigating it or fertilizing it," Padilla said. "Our officers gave chase on foot, but the area is extremely dense and whoever it is was extremely familiar with the location. He was able to get out of there rather quickly."

Padilla said the plants were uprooted Thursday and Friday, and burned.

Each plant would have yielded about one pound of marijuana, which could have been sold for up to $1,500 per plant, he said.

"It was a good discovery for us," Padilla said. "We made a very large impact on their operation."