Authorities bust a bounty of 40,000 marijuana plants in Ohio this month

LATHAM, Ohio (AP) — Authorities have found more than 40,000 pot plants in Ohio this month — almost as many as officials uncovered in the state in all of last year.

A special agent supervisor with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification says he expects those numbers to increase in the coming years as authorities say outdoor pot-growing operations are becoming more common outside of the West Coast.

Earlier this month, state and local officials found about 22,000 marijuana plants in the southern Ohio village of Latham. The bust was so big authorities chose to burn the plants in the outdoor area where they were found, instead of destroying them elsewhere.