Mexican national pleads guilty to $10 million marijuana grow operation in Daviess County

A Mexican national pleaded guilty in federal court May 26 to his role in a Daviess County marijuana-growing operation where law enforcement officers seized nearly $10 million worth of plants.
Miguel Pulido-Maldonado, also known as “Mona,” 28, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to one count of conspiracy to manufacture and possess with the intent to distribute 1,000 or more marijuana plants, and one count of illegally reentering the United States.
The owners of the three real estate tracts that comprise the property in Daviess County live in California. Law enforcement officers, who had been keeping the marijuana grow site under surveillance, executed a search warrant at the property at 285th Street and Unity Avenue on Aug. 27, 2018. The plants were in a clearing inside a large area of timber. A distinct path led from a building in the wooded area to the area containing the marijuana plants.
Officers located approximately 2,464 cultivated marijuana plants. With an approximate street value of $1,800 per pound of marijuana, this results in approximately $9,757,440 in marijuana plants seized.
Under the terms of Tuesday’s plea agreement, Pulido-Maldonado must forfeit that amount to the government as illegal drug-trafficking proceeds. The Daviess County property must also be forfeited to the government.
Pulido-Maldonado, who ran into the woods to escape custody, was arrested on Aug. 30, 2018; he was covered in mud, his arms had numerous bites from either mosquitoes or other insects and it appeared he had been outside for several days. Pulido-Maldonado had previously illegally entered the United States and was removed on Jan. 30, 2017.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad K. Kavanaugh. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Northwest Missouri Drug Task Force, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Daviess County Sheriff’s Department, Grundy County Sheriff’s Department, Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department, Livingston County Sheriff’s Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Department of Homeland Security.
Another Mexican national was charged in federal court Sept. 5, 2018, for his role in the Daviess County marijuana-growing operation. Sergio Medina-Perez, also known as “Chapo,” 44, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City.
One person who was present at the marijuana grow site fled into the wooded area and escaped. This subject is believed to have fled the Midwest entirely. The information about this third subject came from the two subjects who were taken into custody.
Prior to the execution of the search warrant at the rural property, an individual of interest was taken into custody in Independence. John Hamm, Public Information Officer with ATF in Kansas City, said during an interview in 2018 that this primary suspect was apprehended very quickly by ATF Agents and Nitro Agents. No further information about this suspect was released.