INSIDE CANADA'S BIGGEST POT BUST

This is the site of the largest marijuana bust in Canadian
history.

From the road, the property south of Pembroke looks like an average
farm. Sheep stand beside hay in a field beside a small patchwork
house. Rolling fields of corn stretch far into the distance.

There are about 105 acres of land here, according to police. About
half is covered by cornfields.

A dirt road leads to a house, a weather-beaten barn and two-door
garage. A pair of work boots are lodged into a satellite antenna
beside the home. A clearing to the right of the garage leads through
trees to the back of the property, opening onto a dry yellow cornfield
that was raided by police last weekend.

Leftover tape -- "O.P.P. CRIME SCENE" -- is still tied to a stalk,
flapping when the leaves rustle.

Swaths of corn appear to have been trampled by police, leaving tracks
that look like crop circles.

It took at least six shipping-type containers, loaded onto flatbed
trucks, to cart away the 40,000 marijuana plants seized during the
raid, police said.

The plants, taken during an operation that included at least 30 police
and auxiliary officers, were later buried in a "secure site,"
according to police, who valued the seizure at $40 million.

Remnants of the unplanned harvest remain in the broken stalks of corn:
Plants, with green leaves, that leave a pungent smell on the hands.

The field

The field in which marijuana grew was surrounded by a "buffer zone" of
field that only contained corn, police said. The field, which police
estimated as being the size of five or six football fields, contained
marijuana plants that often were around six feet tall, about a foot
shorter than much of the corn crop.

The house

A small two-storey house on the property was sparsely furnished, with
bare walls. It had also been searched by police. Through the windows
of the living room, piles of southeast Asian DVDs could be seen in a
pile on the floor near a television in the corner. An air mattress sat
on its side by a window. Books about farming equipment could also be
seen inside.

The garage

A bare two-door garage stands a short distance away from the house and
is where police say the harvested crop would have been dried.

Irrigation

The crop was watered by plastic tubing that ran throughout the field,
police said. The tubes would be fed from a pond and an above-ground
swimming pool on the property, according to police.

The property, 1970 B-Line Rd.

According to removal notices posted on the property, the Ontario SPCA
planned to seize at least 53 head of sheep -- "various ages, males and
females." The animals had roamed in a large field near the front of
the property. Some sheep could still be seen in the field earlier on
Thursday.

Land registry records show the property was bought by Viet Ha for
$190,000 on Nov. 1, 2005. Police would not say whether they had spoken
to the landowner, but continue to investigate the case and seek
"persons of interest." Neighbours have said a corn crop was also grown
on the farm last year before being plowed under without apparently
being harvested.