'ISLAND'S BIGGEST' MARIJUANA FARM WAS SIZE OF TWO FOOTBALL FIELDS, POLICE SAY

PORT HARDY - Port Hardy RCMP have discovered what they are calling
Vancouver Island's biggest marijuana farm. Two men face charges.

"It was huge," said Const. Michelle Hallam. "The guys describe it as two
football fields . . . you couldn't see from one end of the grow operation
to the other."

Police found more than 6,700 marijuana plants on the remote bush property
northwest of Port Hardy. After staking out the operation for weeks,
officers moved in just after 10 a.m. Sunday. They arrested two men, and
seized guns and guard dogs.

The logistics of growing the plants, moving them to the site and
maintaining and protecting them indicated organized crime, Hallam said.
"From the looks of it (the plants have) been grown inside and brought
outside . . . that takes manpower, and it costs money."

The plants were just beginning to bud, so police were not sure how big the
crop would have been.

The men were not named. They were from the Lower Mainland and aged 25 and
26, and were charged with producing a controlled substance. Both were released.

Police would not say who owned the property, as that was part of their
investigation. Hallam said she expected more arrests.

The site was in deep bush but was easily spotted from the air by a witness
who contacted police.