Fort Bend County marijuana likely worth at least $10 million, officials say

Agents with the Fort Bend County Narcotics Task Force, a Houston HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) initiative composed of local and federal agencies, are searching for two suspects concerning a marijuana grow field. The grow field is part of an ongoing investigation. The field, packed with marijuana plants, is about 3 to 5 acres in size. Agents descended on the grow field earlier Tuesday. less Agents with the Fort Bend County Narcotics Task Force, a Houston HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) initiative composed of local and federal agencies, are searching for two suspects concerning a ... more Photo: Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office Photo: Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office Image 1 of / 32 Caption Close Fort Bend County marijuana likely worth at least $10 million, officials say 1 / 32 Back to Gallery

A large marijuana field discovered in Fort Bend County on Tuesday is still being processed and harvested by officials, but they have a preliminary count on the amount of plants found and its street value is stunning.

The growing operation, just north of Sugar Land Regional Airport, had been a target of officials for some time. The plants were growing in an area only accessible by boat just off Oyster Creek and hard to see from the air, according to officials.

The field, from three to five acres in size, was raided just after noon on Tuesday.

Bob Haenel with the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office said Thursday that so far the number of plants harvested is between 9,000 and 10,000, with the street value thought to be around $10 million, and that's if the crop had reached full maturity and been harvested.

"They set the probable street price at $500 per pound with two pounds yielded from each plant, and they found between 9,000 and 10,000 plants, so that's how they would get that figure," said Haenel on Thursday.

One suspect was taken into custody on Tuesday. Tracking canines were looking for others but so far nothing else has turned up.

According to Haenel it's believed that at least two suspects were living in a makeshift campsite under a tarp and a canopy of vines and other plants, living on site

and caring for the crop.

Haenel said that there has never been a grow of this size found in the Fort Bend area.

The ongoing investigation is a partnership between the Fort Bend County Narcotics Task Force, a Houston HIDTA (High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area) initiative.