RAIDS NET RECORD $6.5M IN POT

Police have busted Calgary's single-largest residential marijuana
grow-op and netted close to $6.5 million from four separate raids.

Officers announced yesterday they confiscated thousands of marijuana
plants from four houses and charged a 17-year-old, who can't be named
under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Staff Sgt. Darren Cave of the Calgary police drug unit said the record
drug busts came from public tips.

"It's a double-edge sword because on one side it shows how entrenched
drugs are in our society because we're getting multiple examples of
these high-volume busts," he said.

"But on the other side of it is, we're able to detect
these."

The series of raids started last Wednesday at a home on Weston Pl.
S.W., where 2,600 marijuana plants with an estimated street value of
$3.2 million were found.

That same day, police seized 1,283 marijuana plants valued at $1.6
million from a home in the 900 block of Woodview Cres. S.W.

The 17-year-old suspect was found inside the Woodview home and he was
charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking, production of
substance, theft of electricity and theft of water.

The next day police found another 1,054 plants valued at $1.3 million
in a home on Sun Valley Dr. S.E., and 255 plants valued at $318,750 in
a home on Malvern Dr. N.E.