SMOKING OUT GROW-OPS

Police Raid On South Shore Nets Almost $500k Worth Of Pot,
Vehicles

POLICE DISPLAYED plastic garbage bags and ice-cream containers, paper
compost bags and large onion bags filled with dried marijuana leaves
and buds Thursday, all items they seized in raids on three South Shore
homes on Wednesday.

It was the largest seizure the South Shore Integrated Crime Unit has
made, with Bridgewater town police and RCMP officers arresting five
people and taking in $370,000 worth of marijuana along with pot
growing equipment, ATVs and vehicles.

Bridgewater Deputy Police Chief John Collyer said the investigation
isn't over. The case is being handed over to commercial crime and
proceeds-of-crime investigators who will pore over the assets of the
five people arrested, so it will be some time before the true value of
the year-long operation is known.

"There's a significant investment by the individuals that are doing
this activity," the deputy chief said.

And he said police are still bringing people in for
questioning.

"We anticipate there will be perhaps more seizures and more arrests
that come out of this."

Deputy Chief Collyer said this was the most sophisticated grow
operation the integrated crime unit has found in its 18 months of
operation on the South Shore.

"Time will only tell what impact it will bring to the street price (of
marijuana) here in the Bridgewater area but we believe we have
significantly disrupted their operations and there should be an impact
on the street price of drugs here on the South Shore."

RCMP Staff Sgt. Mark Furey said the value of the bust is measurable in
other ways, too.

The joint enforcement unit has already seized $2.4 million worth of
drugs in Lunenburg and Queens counties, $500,000 worth of stolen
property and "significant quantities" of illegal cigarettes. He said
both the RCMP and town police have reported a 30 per cent drop in
property crimes in the past 18 months - crimes often committed by
people stealing things and then selling them for drug money.

"We feel these types of seizures disrupt organized crime and
contribute to a decrease in crime in the community," Staff Sgt. Furey
said.

Deputy Chief Collyer said police executed search warrants Wednesday on
a home in Danesville, Queens County, and on two Lunenburg County
homes, one in Cookville and the other in Lower Branch.

They seized about 30 kilograms of marijuana, a small amount of cocaine
and sophisticated marijuana-growing equipment. Police showed pictures
of some of what they had seen and seized: an ATV, an 11.4-litre
plastic strawberry yogurt container filled with processed buds, a room
off a garage filled with marijuana that was growing with the help of
filters, lamps and fans, and screen trays covered with drying dope
that had been separated according to its variety.

Police have not released the names of the three men and two women who
were arrested because paperwork for court is still being finalized.
The five are scheduled to appear in Bridgewater provincial court on
Dec. 17 charged with crimes ranging from possession of cocaine to
producing and trafficking marijuana.