300 Acre Marijuana Plantation Found in Mexico

TIJUANA, Mexico -- Hundreds of Mexican soldiers have finished burning thousands of plants at a massive marijuana plantation discovered last week in Baja California.

The Mexican government has called the 300-acre (120 hectare) marijuana field the biggest such plantation ever found in the country.

The field had escaped detection for several months in part because it was covered by shade cloth.

The Defense Department said Monday that 472 soldiers pulled up all the plants. They burned them in giant bonfires at the clandestine plantation south of the town of San Quintin.

The army says the plantation was capable of producing about 120 tons of marijuana worth about 1.8 billion pesos ($160 million).