POLICE SEIZE $1.6 M IN ILLEGAL DRUGS

Orillia-based police choppers joined forces with Essex, Kent and Lambton
police forces this past week for a summer drug eradication program that
resulted in the seizure of more than 1,000 marijuana plants.

Police report that OPP, RCMP, Chatham-Kent and Sarnia police services
conducted the five-day blitz wherein corn fields, bush lots and
watercourses were scoured for marijuana.

In all, 115 plants were found in Essex, 322 plants were nabbed in Kent and
912 plants were seized in Lambton. Police say the estimated street value of
the plants is $1,349,000.

In addition, two Essex County residents are facing charges after they were
allegedly spotted tending to the plants while the investigation was under
way. As a result, a warrant was executed at the suspects' homes where more
drugs and paraphernalia were allegedly found.

This past weekend, another joint-forces initiative, through Chatham-Kent,
RCMP and OPP police services, added another 321 marijuana plants to the
evidence pile after a search was conducted solely in Raleigh and Chatham
townships. That seizure is valued at $300,000.