GRASS BUST POT LUCK, COPS SAY

It was tucked inside a warehouse in Montreal's garment district where
its sky-high energy consumption would not attract attention.

The windows were dark, so no one would see the lighting system that
was helping to grow the thousands of plants inside. The
top-of-the-line ventilation system emptied air into a lot used for
junked city buses, so no one would notice any suspicious smells.

It was a great place to hide a pot farm.

Police say the $107-million hydroponic marijuana operation on St.
Laurent Blvd. could have been in business for as many as three years
before officers investigating a burglary stumbled upon it Sunday morning.

``It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out a nice place (to grow
marijuana),'' Montreal Urban Community police spokesman Constable
Robert Mansueto said yesterday.

``They know how to (avoid being) detected - high hydro bills ... and
the smell.''

And now police believe the people behind the plantation were also
running a smaller operation just blocks away. Police seized 1,000
plants at another hydroponic marijuana farm on Park Ave. at Cremazie
Blvd. when they raided it last week.

``It looks like it was the same organization,'' said Lt. Jean Paradis
of the MUC police anti-drug squad.

The two indoor pot farms had the same ventilation and irrigation
systems and the plants were set up in the same way. The leases at both
buildings were also in the same name, police said.

Coincidentally, police say that they learned of the existence of the
two marijuana farms in the same way, too - both started out as
burglary investigations.

``Even the writing on the wall about how to prepare the plants was
exactly the same,'' Mansueto said yesterday.

Sunday's bust was the largest in Montreal's history, with an estimated
street value of $107 million. Police seized 25,000 plants and removed
$100,000 worth of hydroponic equipment, including lights, hoses and
irrigation systems.

Inside the warehouse, there were separate nurseries for male and
female plants. There were separate shelves for plants of different
ages.

``They had a very, very, very profitable business going,'' Mansueto
said.

Police wouldn't say yesterday who they believe to be behind the pot
operations - except to say it is probably organized crime.

Whoever it was had deep pockets. The cost of setting up such a lab is
prohibitive to small-timers, police said.

For example, each plant had its own $40 meter that determined when it
needed water, Mansueto said. Then there were the dozens of lamps
lighting the growing areas - they cost at least $500 each. Police have
seen similar operations but never on such a large scale, he said.

But marijuana is a lucrative crop. Within two months, the plants could
have been harvested at a street value, police estimate, of $100
million per crop.

And there's a market for it. According to the RCMP, marijuana is the
most popular drug in Canada. The RCMP's 1999 report on drugs says
about half of the marijuana used in Canada is grown in this country;
the rest is imported.

``Given the relatively low cost of setting up a grow operation and the
considerable profits it generates, this activity has become
increasingly attractive, even to otherwise law-abiding citizens,'' the
report says.

Last year, about one million marijuana plants were seized by police
forces across the country. The RCMP estimates that about 800 tonnes of
marijuana are produced in Canada in a year.

As for the plants in the St. Laurent Blvd. warehouse, MUC police have
destroyed them, save for a few that will be analyzed. The hydroponic
equipment, which includes irrigation systems, lights and fans, will be
used by police as evidence in court.

A 54-year-old man who was arrested at the warehouse Sunday appeared in
court yesterday. Police say the man was involved with the operation
but was not the mastermind behind it.

Yves Figeys of Sainte-Adele was charged with production of cannabis
and possession of cannabis for the purpose of trafficking, and is to
appear in court today for a bail hearing.