RCMP BUST ISLAND'S LARGEST OUTDOOR GROW-OP

Farm In Bush Outside Port Hardy Found To Have About 6,700 Pot Plants

An outdoor marijuana farm, reportedly the size of two football fields, has
been busted in the remote bush outside Port Hardy.

An estimated 6,700 plants were discovered growing northwest of the northern
community in what the area's RCMP are calling Vancouver Island's largest
outdoor pot-growing operation.

Two men face charges.

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

The RCMP moved in on the site just after 10 a.m. Sunday after investigating
the grow operation for weeks.

Two men, aged 25 and 26, from the Lower Mainland were arrested for
producing a controlled substance.

Firearms and three guard dogs were also seized.

The logistics of growing the thousands of plants, moving them to the site
and maintaining and protecting them until they were ready for harvest were
all strong indications of a sophisticated organization with access to both
money and manpower, RCMP said.

"The size is definitely consistent with 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 produce buds, which contain high
concentrations of the drug THC, at which point they are harvested.

No street value was given, but Hallam said simply, "these criminals stand
to make a lot of money."

Police would not discuss who owned the property, as that is part of their
investigation.

Hallam did say that she expects more arrests and charges to follow.

The site was located within deep bush, but was easily spotted from the air
by someone who contacted police.

After Sunday morning's bust, members of the RCMP, the Department of
National Defense and municipal police forces converged on the area, cutting
down the plants and later destroying them. With more than 40 officers
working, the site was cleared within one day.

The property is also being investigated for any environmental issues that
may have arisen from the land clearing, fertilizing and irrigating of so
many plants.

In 2003 Port Hardy RCMP discovered and destroyed a grow operation of more
than 1,100 plants. That site is still under investigation but no-one has
been charged yet.

Hallam said the two sites were not related.