POLICE STUMBLE ON TO MARIJUANA CROP STEPS FROM STATION

Massive cannabis plantation spotted near Kaladar by pilot of OPP helicopter

A task force led by Ontario Provincial Police seized a massive crop of
marijuana discovered by accident within a stone's throw of the OPP station at
Kaladar, 150 kilometres west of Ottawa.

Just before sundown Wednesday, the pilot of an OPP helicopter on a flight from
Orillia to Ottawa spotted a monster cannabis plantation, estimated to contain
close to 10,000 plants, hidden in the woods on a swampy patch of Crown land
less than a kilometre from the Kaladar detachment.

The pilot was able to radio precise details of the find to a small army of
professional dope hunters already in the area as part of the OPP's Operation
Eradication 2003, a provincewide marijuana-busting sweep that began last week.
It is expected to run through October.

The task force, made up mainly of officers from the OPP's Emergency Response
Team and the undercover Drug Enforcement Section, responded within minutes.

First to show up were two helicopters, followed by a convoy of vehicles, to
secure the site.

But then, a glitch cropped up: "When we got the news, our dog handler was in
the chopper, the dog was on the ground, and the K9 unit truck was nowhere,"
said Detective David Glass of the Drug Enforcement Section. "We had to land and
then fly the dog to the scene."

Sighting a tent in the woods nearby, police moved quickly, hoping to catch "bad
guys" guarding the patch, but the tactical teams didn't encounter anybody.

Thursday morning, a Joint Forces Operation group converged on a property off
Highway 41, just south of town, believed to be a staging point for the grow
operation, and where the search of a small house turned up signs of recent
occupation.

"There was milk in the fridge and fresh produce in the kitchen," said an
undercover agent who cannot be identified. "These guys left in a hurry."

Once in the plantation, police were astounded by the size and complexity of the
enterprise. A maze of trails led to a swampy clearing densely packed with
high-grade marijuana plants in five-gallon pots.

Fallen logs, pallets and planks formed a makeshift boardwalk over the boggy
ground to clusters of plants that were fed by a network of irrigation hoses,
sprinklers, and gasoline pumps.

"We could start a golf course with all this material," remarked one officer,
marvelling at the extensive equipment and supplies uncovered.

"Whoever did this put in a lot of money and effort," said OPP Inspector Ron Van
Straalen, Area Commander for the Napanee district. "This is a definite
commercial grow."

By 10 a.m. Thursday, more than thirty officers from the RCMP and various OPP
units moved in to begin a massive clear-cut of the illegal crop. Police
laboured in teams to cut and stack the plants, which were shuttled by
four-wheel ATVs across the steep, rugged, terrain to a tractor-trailer at the
highway.

Overhead, an Armed Forces helicopter from the 247th Squadron in Petawawa flew
in noisy circles, providing an observation platform for the operation. Clearing
the plots and taking apart the infrastructure took most of the day, after which
tonnes of the highly narcotic plant, valued at more than $5 million, were
hauled away to be buried at an undisclosed location.

Yesterday, an arrest warrant was issued for the property owner, who is believed
to be hiding in the Toronto area. "Our investigation confirmed a nexus between
the residence and the cultivation site," said Det. Glass.

He said few arrests are made in raids of this type, partly because a conviction
relies on catching a grower red-handed, but mainly to avoid stalling the mobile
eradication effort.

"It's sometimes cumbersome to investigate," admitted Det. Paul Henry, head of
the Ottawa Unit of the DES. "Often, charges aren't laid for what we call
guerrilla grows."

According to Det. Henry, nearly five thousand plants were seized in the Ottawa
area in the last week, few of which can be linked to a landowner or a specific
individual.

Since a court judgment struck down the law on cannabis possession, Det. Henry
says: "I'm impatient to send a strong message that cultivation is still
illegal."