Texas deputies find $7.9M marijuana farm, campsite in Walker County

Sheriff's deputies found this marijuana farm - with thousands of plants and an estimated value of $7.9 million - in Walker County on Friday, June 9, 2017. (Courtesy of Walker County Sheriff's Office) Sheriff's deputies found this marijuana farm - with thousands of plants and an estimated value of $7.9 million - in Walker County on Friday, June 9, 2017. (Courtesy of Walker County Sheriff's Office) Image 1 of / 54 Caption Close Texas deputies find $7.9M marijuana farm, campsite in Walker County 1 / 54 Back to Gallery

Some illicit farmer's dreams went up in smoke Friday when Walker County sheriff's deputies found their vast marijuana farm with thousands of plants worth an estimated $7.9 million, according to the sheriff's office.

Deputies responded to call around 3 p.m. Friday about narcotics off FM 2989 in the rural county, sheriff's spokeswoman Marlene Wells said in a news release. A worker at the property said he had come across what appeared to be marijuana plants.

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After deputies got permission to enter the property, they encountered a man and identified themselves as police, Wells said. The man fled on foot into a heavily wooded area.

Deputies pursuing that man came across a crop of marijuana plants - some 5,255 individual plants, deputies later counted, with a street value estimated at $7,866,000.

If that sum were divided evenly between the approximately 71,000 residents of Walker County, every man, woman and child would receive a $100 bill, a $10 bill and three quarters.

The area also had a campsite that deputies said appeared to be a living space.

Deputies would like help locating the man who fled, whom they describe as a 6-foot-2 Hispanic male between 25 and 35 years old with black hair. He was wearing blue jeans and a light-colored T-shirt.

The sheriff's office asks anyone with information in this case to call them at 936-435-2400.