POLICE SERVICES TEAM UP FOR OUTDOOR MARIJUANA ERADICATION OPERATION

Five law enforcement agencies teamed up recently to conduct a
three-day outdoor marijuana eradication operation to locate outdoor
marijuana grows in the Algoma District. Dubbed Project SABOT, the
initiative took place over the past few weeks.

The combined services Marijuana Eradication Team comprised officers
from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Ontario Provincial
Police, the Sault Ste. Marie Joint Forces Drug Unit, and the Ontario
Ministry of Natural Resources.

All of these agencies shared information gathered from a number of
sources to make strategic strikes against specific marijuana grow
areas. They also combined human and technical resources to make the
project both cost-efficient and effective. The partnership provided
an opportunity to share training techniques and intelligence on drug
issues in their communities.

Through a combined effort, larger amounts of marijuana can be seized
at one time and taken from fields before it reaches the streets,
making marijuana less available and reducing the risk to our communities.

The 2006 combined services Marijuana Eradication Team was formed to
locate and destroy outdoor marijuana grows throughout Algoma
including Wawa, Chapleau, Sault Ste. Marie, Thessalon, Elliot Lake
and Serpent River First Nations. A total of approximately 3,700
marijuana plants were seized over the three-day period.