Mexico's military says it has stumbled upon the largest marijuana plantation ever found in the country.

General Alfonso Duarte said Thursday soldiers on patrol had discovered the 120-hectare field in the desert state of Baja California, which borders the United States.

Duarte said dozens of men were tending to the plants, which had grown nearly 2.5 meters tall. Most of them managed to evade capture, but at least six men were detained later at a military checkpoint.

Duarte said the marijuana field would have yielded some 120 million tons of the illegal drug, worth nearly $160 million. The military plans to destroy the plants.

Mexico is the largest supplier of marijuana to the United States.