CANNABIS BUST CALLED BIGGEST IN THE SOUTH

Two football fields' worth of marijuana found in a farm field is the
largest cannabis cultivation operation ever busted in southern
Alberta, say RCMP.

Mounties arrested 11 people for cultivating 1,800 plants and 54 lbs.
of harvested marijuana flowers and now say they're scouring the
country for possible nationwide links to the operation.

"A number of other drug sections across Canada will be involved in
investigating distribution networks and proceeds of crime," said
Lethbridge RCMP Cpl. James Johnston.

Sparking the national focus was the arrest of two Newfoundland men in
the Friday raid on the remote property south of Foremost, about 270 km
southeast of Calgary.

Johnston said he was surprised by the size and sophistication of the
operation, whose discovery followed an extensive investigation. "To my
knowledge, this is the largest drug seizure in southern Alberta other
than a cocaine bust three years ago," he said.

"I can only say it's worth multi millions (of dollars)."

Rather than conceal the marijuana with legal crops, the cultivators
used fences to screen an activity that produced plants of an average
height of almost two metres, said Johnston.

The lucrative nature of the crop, whose flowering buds fetch $80 an
ounce, has led to an apparent increase in their frequency, he said.

Charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession for
the purpose of trafficking are Danile Jille Bard, 44, of Foremost;
Corey James Bishop, 20, of St. John's, Nfld.; William Kenneth Collins,
55, of no fixed address; John Peter Gatner, 47, of Lethbridge; Wayne
Jerome Hearn, 19, of Nobleford; Victor William Hrycyk, 36, of Monarch;
Charles Wayne Morgan, 41, of Paradise, Nfld.; Richard Shaw, 22, of
Lethbridge; Greg John White, 18, of Lethbridge; Charles Bruce Wild,
25, of Lethbridge; and a 16-year-old.

Copyright (c) 1998, Canoe Limited Partnership.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady