$25M POT BUST

More Than 25,000 Plants Seized

Everything needed to start a marijuana grow-op franchise -- plants,
lights, fertilizer, and detailed instructions on how to market the
drugs and launder money -- were scooped up in a massive police raid
on dozens of homes across the GTA.

A lengthy investigation into the company led to the discovery of 39
grow houses across the GTA and the seizure of $25 million worth of
pot, police said yesterday.

Toronto cops say they have been watching people come and go from Can
Tech Inc. -- located at 5250 Finch Ave. E. -- since last February as
part of a joint operation with the RCMP.

They have also been watching the company's second location called Can
Tech Distribution on McAdam Dr. in Mississauga.

Warrants

Officers swooped in with search warrants Monday at the two
warehouses, as well as dozens of other houses and apartments across
the city, which police allege were drug dens set up by Can Tech like
franchises for fast food.

"We're alleging that they (Can Tech Inc.) facilitated the equipment
and the clones (small plants) to start the grow operation, and then
assisted in distributing (the pot) and laundering the money,"
Staff-Insp. Don Campbell said yesterday at 42 Division in Scarborough.

In dismantling the huge operation, police seized 25,776 marijuana
plants at the various locations -- much of which they allege would
have been sold south of the border. They also seized grow-op
equipment, computers and tens of thousands of dollars in Canadian and
U.S. currency.

"It was quite sophisticated, quite organized. That's why it took us
nine months to establish the roots of this organization," Campbell said.

Five women and six men have so far been arrested. And warrants have
been issued for another 10 people.

There was nobody at Can Tech Inc.'s Scarborough location yesterday.

However, staff at other businesses in the industrial complex just
west of Markham Rd. said they were not at all surprised to hear the
company was allegedly a front for illegal drugs.

'Big Bags'

Paul, who works at Federal Wireless Communications Inc. and did not
give his last name, said he knew they were growing something
next-door but he didn't know what.

"All I ever saw was bags coming out of there, big bags," he said,
describing skids piled nearly two metres high with dark-coloured
garbage bags stuffed with what he now believes must have been marijuana.

Other staff agreed, saying they often found "pot leaves" on the
ground out back in the loading area.

"I often wondered what was going on in there," said Bryan Petry, a
partner at All Seasons Display a few units over.

Charged are: [Names Redacted].