MAILBOX LEADS COPS TO POT LUCK

Police stumbled upon a million-dollar marijuana plantation while trying to
tell a homeowner his mailbox had been knocked over in a traffic accident.

The road surface along Marie Victorin Blvd. in Vercheres, a town 40
kilometres southeast of Montreal, was slippery Sunday night, causing a
minor two-car accident. One of vehicles hit a roadside mailbox.

After the accident, the Sainte-Julie police officers who investigated the
mishap walked a long path toward the front door of the home.

"They wanted to advise the owner of the house that the mailbox was damaged.
They didn't want the owner to think it was a hit-and-run," said Surete du
Quebec Constable Gerard Carrier.

"But when they approached the house, they detected a marijuana odour," Carrier

The police officers informed the owner of the house about the mailbox and
returned to their headquarters to get a search warrant.

A police car was posted near the building to watch while the warrant was
being prepared. The house is almost surrounded by wooded land on more than
4,600 square metres of property.

The house was searched by 2 a.m. yesterday. When the Sainte-Julie police
realized how much marijuana was involved, they asked the Surete du Quebec's
organized-crime division for assistance.

Investigators found 2,350 marijuana plants - worth an estimated $3 million
- - growing in the basement, which had been divided in five sections.
Components of what Carrier described as a "very sophisticated" hydroponic
system were also seized.

Three 900-litre heating-oil tanks were found inside and a 40-kilowatt
commercial generator was discovered behind a false wall in the garage.
Freon-based cooling systems were found in each of the sections of the basement.

The home's owner, a 29-year-old man, was arrested along with a 24-year-old
woman. They were living in the house with a 16-month baby. Carrier said the
toddler was placed in the care of a relative. The couple is expected to
appear in Sorel court this morning.

Yesterday's seizure comes just weeks after Deux-Montagnes police seized $17
million worth of pot and equipment from 17 homes within a housing development.

The Montreal police seized hundreds of marijuana plants in November from
the basements of homes in the city's east end. The growers are believed to
part of an organized group that recently moved here from British Columbia.

Police sources have often speculated that such indoor plantations are
controlled by organized-crime groups like the province's outlaw motorcycle
gangs.

SQ Cpl. Jean Finet said the provincial police opened 1,832 files involving
marijuana growers in 2001. Nearly 800 of those were initiated by the SQ's
organized-crime investigative units.

"These were all over the province and not necessarily specific to one
area," Finet added.

More than 30 per cent of the investigations involved indoor plantations.
"To set up an installation that is very sophisticated and very high tech,
you need to have a lot of money," Finet said.

"Generally, this money comes from organized crime. When you see a little
operation, like less than 100 plants, you find less ties to organized crime."