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Efforts to help two hikers in distress led authorities to a huge marijuana farm in the San Diego County backcountry.
About 5,600 marijuana plants worth an estimated $1.4 million were growing on the farm, Lt. Alan C. Fulmer of the Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday. He said the plants were hidden under the high chaparral on federal land.
The chance discovery began with the Sunday hike by three brothers, Rod Moreno, 25; Mark, 26, both of Vista, and Anthony, 28, of Imperial Beach, to explore the headwaters of the San Diego River.
When Anthony injured his shoulder in a fall and Mark began to suffer from heat exhaustion, Rod walked out to get help from forest rangers in Inaga Park.
The rangers were joined by Border Patrol agents and sheriff’s deputies, starting at the Inaga Park site where the men began their hike.
Soon after departing in four-wheel-drive vehicles, authorities came across the hidden farm, said Steve Reed, a spokesman for the San Diego County Narcotics Task Force.
Anthony and Mark Moreno were treated and brought out by Border Patrol vehicles, then authorities turned their attention to the marijuana farm.
No suspects were found at the site, and an investigation is continuing. The farm has a gas-operated generator to power an irrigation and fertilization system, Reed said.
About 20 officers and agents uprooted the plants, which were transported to Descanso to be burned by firefighters.
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