More than 1,100 plants found in marijuana grow house in Foothills

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department arrested two men this week in connection with a sophisticated marijuana growing operation where more than 1,100 plants were found in a Foothills-area home.

Patrick McDonald, 31, and Kyle Sorensen, 37, were arrested and booked into the Pima County jail. They each face charges of marijuana manufacturing, marijuana possession for sale/transport, and possession of marijuana over 2 pounds.

The sheriff’s department said Friday the investigation began about a month ago and resulted in search warrants and arrests Tuesday.

Sheriff’s investigators found 1,106 marijuana plants at a house in the 7000 block of North Corrida de Venado, near East Ina Road. Detectives described it as a “very high-tech indoor grow operation.”

The street features single-family homes on large properties, with some valued at more than $500,000.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

Inside the house was a “hash” processing room in which “hash wax” and “hash oil” were being processed. Hash is the extracted product from the cannabis plant and contains higher concentrations of THC, the psychoactive ingredient of marijuana.

Detectives also found a large amount of marijuana processing equipment that allowed the suspects to process a high volume of marijuana after it was harvested, the sheriff’s department said.

A second search warrant was served at a residence in the 3200 block of East Skyline Drive, near North Campbell Avenue. Detectives found processed marijuana in sealed bags, a handgun and $1,000 in cash.

The second residence was where one of the suspects lived and was not being used to grow marijuana plants, the agency said.

The department said the operation could conservatively produce about 4,000 pounds of marijuana per year, worth about $10 million.