POLICE RAID LARGE-SCALE ONTARIO GROW-OP

PEMBROKE, ONT. (CP) -- Police in eastern Ontario say they've busted
one of the largest marijuana grow operations in Canadian history.
More than 40,000 plants were seized after provincial police raided a
40-plus-hectare farm in Laurentian Valley Township, just outside
Pembroke, Ont., last Thursday.

Officers worked through the weekend to help recover the plants as
well as some farming equipment from what police say was an elaborate operation.

"There was an irrigation system, for one thing," said provincial
police spokeswoman Sergeant Kristine Rae.

"One of the things they used was an above-ground pool as well as a
pond that was on the property with plastic piping that led out
through the fields. The double-car garage was set up for drying racks."

Sgt. Rae said it's unclear how long the operation had been running.

The plants were found among corn stalks on the farm that neighbours
say was rarely used.

Superintendent Frank Elbers said this is the largest marijuana grow
operation the force has seen since some 30,000 plants were seized
from a former brewery plant operation in Barrie, Ont., in 2003.

No arrests have been made, and the investigation is continuing, Sgt. Rae said.

In a two-year probe dating back to 2006, Mounties in B.C. found
45,000 marijuana plants in eight buildings in the Williams Lake area.
Nine Vancouver-area men face drug trafficking and possession charges
after being arrested this month in connection with that investigation.

In September, 2005, police in New Brunswick raided three fields in
three communities, netting more than 40,000 plants and five people
have been arrested.