DA charges two in National Forest pot farm case

JEFFERSON COUNTY – Two men face felony charges in Jefferson County District Court after they were arrested in connection with a marijuana farm found in the Gun Barrel Creek area of the Pike National Forest, the District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

Davis Padilla Martinez, 40, and Rene Galan Hernandez, 27, remain in the County jail.

The two were arrested Aug. 21 when they were caught tending an estimated 14,500 pot plants, according to a Drug Enforcement Agency spokesman. Another seven to 10 suspects fled as members DEA’s Front Range Task Force raided the grow site.

The large haul of pot was taken from what is believed to be the largest outdoor marijuana farm ever found in Colorado.

Task force members also found bedding, food and other items at the remote site in what the spokesman described as “rugged terrain” near Deckers.

The DEA spokesman said information developed during the investigation revealed that the two suspects are migrant workers from Mexico recruited from outside the state and that the field is part of a move by drug traffickers to grow marijuana inside the U,S. instead of smuggling it across the border.

“The nature of this operation and the quantities involved are consistent with a criminal enterprise, and not with the recreational use of marijuana,” said District Attorney Scott Storey.

The use of national forest land by traffickers has spread across the country, said Special Agent in Charge Gil Quintana of the U.S. Forest Service

“We are now beginning to see these organizations migrate to our National lands in Colorado and we believe it is because of the law enforcement pressure they are experiencing elsewhere,” Quintana said.

Martinez is jailed on a $100,000 bond. He is charged with cultivation of marijuana and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, both felonies.

Hernandez is charged with cultivation of marijuana and is jailed on $10,000 bond.