Jose Tapia Varelas gets ten years for cultivating marijuana in forest

A Mexican man will spend a decade behind bars in connection with a huge marijuana growing operation in the Tonto National Forest.

Jose Tapia Varelas pleaded guilty last April to the charge of conspiracy to cultivate more than 1,000 marijuana plants on National Forest lands. Investigators found two marijuana cultivation areas near Gold Creek Canyon and Hinton Canyon in the Tonto National Forest in Gila County.

Varelas delivered food and supplies to workers who stayed in the remote grow sites for months at a time.

Law enforcement officers eradicated over 7,000 marijuana plants from the two cultivation areas. Varelas' sentence was enhanced because he possessed a firearm in connection with the cultivation conspiracy.