POT INDUSTRY WAS AN OPEN SECRET

Bedford Abuzz; Local Residents Worry About Farms, Families Of Those
Arrested In Raids

At every restaurant table, on every barstool, in every checkout line
in Bedford, there was only one topic anyone could talk about.

"We're very surprised," said Gilles Paidif, a window
cleaner.

"Actually, we were all waiting for it to happen," suggested Matthieu
Larocque, who works at the local Toro dealership. "It was just a
matter of time."

Everyone knew or knew of the 11 local farmers arrested on Wednesday
during a massive marijuana bust involving three police forces in two
countries.

And everyone seemed to know that what many farmers reaped was not
always destined for the grain silos.

But news travels quickly in this rural town 70 kilometres southeast of
Montreal, so locals were wary of giving their names to
journalists.

"Everybody knows each other here. We don't want anything coming back
to get us," said one such man, flipping through three newspapers with
reports of the arrests.

Of the few who did talk, only a couple expressed relief at the raid
that seized more than 5,500 marijuana plants and ended a major
smuggling ring.

Most were quick to defend the farmers who face extradition to the
United States.

"What will happen to their families? Now they're left without their
fathers," said Milene Pelletier, a waitress at one of Bedford's two
bars.

"I mean, what they did was wrong. But it wasn't as bad as everyone is
making it seem."

In every depanneur, the newspapers were sold out by 8:30 a.m., a store
clerk said. With every report that said the smuggling ringleaders
intimidated local farmers into handing over plots of land to the
marijuana growers, men and women scoffed in disbelief.

"It's all exaggerated. They're not the Hells Angels, they're not
Al-Qa'ida," said one bar customer, enjoying an afternoon beer.

"This is just a nice big story to sell papers."

Steve Potvin, who went to school with several of the farmers'
children, was more worried about what will happen to the farms seized
by the police.

"Who will take care of the hay, the corn, and the feed now? If they
live off the land, they will lose money," Potvin said.

His friend was more enthusiastic in his defence of the arrested
men.

"These guys buy brand new vehicles every year. They shop and shop and
put money into the community," he fumed. "The government should thank
them for all the taxes they paid, not arrest them."

In the neighbouring town of Pike River is a John Deere tractor
dealership that caters to farmers. Jasmin Cote, a salesperson there,
had heard things from the farmers that would counter their apologists.

"At least one of them threatened the other farmers to let him use
their fields for marijuana," Cote said.

"They didn't really have a choice."

As for the economic fallout from the loss of 11 faithful customers,
Cote did not seem worried.

"We have many other clients. I don't think it will make a big
difference," he said.

The mayor of Bedford was out of town and municipal officials declined
to comment on the arrests.

But when pressed, a city employee pointed to a column in yesterday's
La Presse, one that sneered at the police assertion the pot growers
were "terrorizing" local farmers.