Police make pot bust in Corner Canyon

For the third time in a week, a major outdoor marijuana-growing operation has been busted by police in Utah.

Friday's bust by Draper police in Corner Canyon included only 10 plants, but Sgt. Gerry Allred said they all averaged 9 feet tall and were of exceptionally high quality.

"They were very potent," he said. "This kind of quality is extremely rare to find in an outdoor grow."

The growing operation used techniques usually reserved for indoor growing, Allred said.

The marijuana plants were discovered by a hiker in thick scrub oak in an area of the canyon below the Jacob's Ladder trailhead and below the Lower Corner Canyon Recreation Area popular for hikers and bikers. The hiker contacted a city public works official, who in turn called police.

Investigators had set up surveillance on the plants and were watching them for the past three weeks, Allred said. Since the plants were ready to be harvested, detectives were waiting to see if they could catch the person responsible in the act. When that didn't happen, Allred said, police cut the plants down Friday to put them into evidence.

Although the pot plants were in an area not frequently traveled by recreationists, Allred said, that likely would change in coming years as the canyon is developed. The proximity to the public is what made the find disturbing, he said.

Because the person or people who were growing the plants seem to be experts in growing marijuana, Allred said, detectives believe other outdoor growing operations may be found.

September and early October is usually the time of year in Utah when illegal outdoor growing operations are harvested.

On Thursday, more than 2,200 marijuana plants were seized in the Dixie National Forest. That bust followed another one by the Washington County Sheriff's Office Sept. 7 in a remote area near New Harmony.

The estimated street value of the marijuana plants in Friday's bust was $80,000.

Anyone with information on the Corner Canyon marijuana grow or other growing operations related to it can call police at 576-6300 and receive a cash reward for tips leading to arrests and convictions.

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