COPS UNEARTH BURIED POT PLANTATION

A million-dollar marijuana operation was shut down yesterday by members of
the RCMP "Green Team'' squad in its biggest bust so far this year.

Cops found nearly 500 plants growing underneath a mobile home on an acreage
south of Abee, 105 km northeast of Edmonton, said Const. Dennis Hartl of
the RCMP Edmonton Drug Section.

Members of the RCMP Green Team - which targets hydroponic marijuana
operations - and Redwater RCMP raided the secluded spot about 9:30 a.m.

When police arrived they discovered a sophisticated underground dope
operation capable of generating between $1 million and $2 million a year in
profits, Hartl said, adding the farm had probably run for a couple of
years.

The plants seized yesterday could be worth up to $400,000, he added.

Police brought along an electrician to help them dismantle the complex
electrical wiring used in the operation, he said.

The grower went to great lengths to keep the farm a secret, said RCMP Cpl.
Bob Simmonds, adding drug farmers like out-of-the-way spots for their
crops.

"These are the types of locations that traditionally house larger
operations,'' Simmonds said.

A generator powering 10 1,000-watt light bulbs illuminating the plants was
buried in a grove of trees so it couldn't be spotted on the ground or from
the air, he said.

The "greenhouse'' housing the plants and growing tables was hidden
underneath the mobile home. A search revealed the door to the grow room was
hidden in a shed attached to the home.

"When you walked into the shed it just looked like a tool shed,'' Hartl
said. "There was a false wall and a false door behind the wall.''

The plants were watered by a system of pipes fed by a well on the property.

The grower probably had to tend to his crops once or twice a day to make
sure they were getting adequate water, RCMP said.

Police carted away about $15,000 worth of growing equipment after the bust.

Plant samples will be sent to a lab in Burnaby, B.C., where they will be
tested for THC levels - marijuana's active ingredient, Simmonds said.

Rheal LaRouche, 47 has been charged with possession of a controlled
substance for the purpose of trafficking and production of a controlled
substance.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)