Costa Rica´s National Police discovered 11,000 marijuana plants in Bagaces, in the northwestern Guanacaste province, last weekend thanks to a tip from a resident, law enforcement officials said.
The plants represent the largest find of the illegal drug in Costa Rica in almost a decade, according to a press release from the Public Security Ministry.
The plants ranged between a half a meter to one and a half meters high and were ready to be harvested and sold.
The ministry noted that growth and distribution of marijuana has become a growing problem in the past months. Officials believe that most of the seeds for the plants are shipped from South America to Costa Rica by way of the Panamanian border.
Officials said that police forces are stepping up search efforts at borders and training more drug-sniffing K-9s.
So far, no one has been arrested or detained for ownership of the 11,000 plants in Guanacaste.
