10 Arrested After 2 Large Marijuana Grows Found On Western Slope

Authorities have arrested 10 people after the discovery of two large, unrelated marijuana grows on public land in western Colorado.

The Department of Justice announced Monday that Bureau of Land Management rangers acting on two separate tips found the grows south of Gateway near the Utah border.

The rangers found more than 1,200 fully mature marijuana plants, 211 kilograms of dried marijuana and a rifle at a site on the Dolores River corridor between Gateway and Naturita on Sept. 15.

A second illegal grow was discovered nearby on Sept. 30. Prosecutors say about 69 kilograms of processed marijuana were still at that site, and there was evidence that thousands of marijuana plants were recently harvested.