OPP'S NEW EYES IN THE SKIES PAID FOR THROUGH SEIZED CRIMINAL ASSETS

Choppers Seeking Out Marijuana Crops In Ontario Fields

ORILLIA - Members of the Ontario Provincial Police are taking to the skies
full-time over the next three months in its annual drug eradication
program, and this year it's being paid for by criminals.

In previous years, the OPP's two permanent helicopters were used, time
permitting, for drug eradication. This year, the OPP drug eradication
program received a grant of $313,000 for the full-time use of a leased
helicopter dedicated to aerial surveillance of marijuana growing sites.

The funding, provided through the Criminal Intelligence Service of Ontario,
supports crime prevention initiatives with the assets of criminal
organizations seized as a result of police investigations.

OPP Drug Enforcement Section Manager Detective Inspector Jim Hutchinson
said aerial surveillance is a valuable tool in monitoring and locating the
least visible growing locations and obscure plots often adjacent to marshes
and rivers.

"The full-time availability of a leased helicopter for a more intense
campaign of surveillance is a great asset to this year's program,
especially as growers seek better ways to camouflage their illegal growing
sites," he says.

OPP helicopter pilots and police officers experienced in the detection of
marijuana will be responsible for the aerial surveillance. On the ground,
officers will access identified sites, confiscate the plants and undertake
criminal and proceeds of crime investigations.

This year's drug eradication program, being carried out in cooperation with
the RCMP, municipal police services, OPP Regions and Crime Stoppers, builds
on two consecutive years of record seizures of marijuana plants. In 1999,
more than 110,000 plants were seized with an estimated street value of
$120.7 million.

"Another important asset in our drug eradication program is the public,"
said Hutchinson. "We encourage anyone with information about possible
growing locations or suspicious activity around fields and wooded areas to
contact their local police or Crime Stoppers."

The overall goal of the eradication program is to target large
sophisticated growing operations and enterprise traffickers, making
significant outdoor cultivation of marijuana as unattractive as possible.

According to Hutchinson, the extensive aerial surveillance and ground
investigations are intended to increase seizures of marijuana plants across
the province. In addition, officers will lay charges where appropriate,
confiscate cultivation and harvesting equipment, and pursue proceeds of
crime linkages to enable asset seizures related to criminal activity.

The leasing of a helicopter dedicated to drug eradication allows the OPP's
two helicopters to continue to focus on search and rescue services
throughout Ontario.