95 ARRESTED IN HUGE DRUG SWEEP

Police Launch 'Operation Borax'; Raids Target Marijuana Growers,
Firms Supplying Gear And Expertise

More than 95 people were arrested yesterday in a major police
operation that not only targeted marijuana growers and dealers but
also the people alleged to supply the equipment and expertise to grow
pot hydroponically.

Initially, the Surete du Quebec said more than 200 people were sought
on warrants in Operation Borax.

But by late yesterday afternoon they announced they managed to arrest
only fewer than half that number.

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the provincial police
force was unable to explain how so many people avoided arrest.

Details on the operation are expected to be released at a news
conference today.

More than 800 police officers from the SQ, RCMP, Montreal police and
various municipal forces took part in the operation. Besides the
arrests, they carried out more than 50 search warrants in and around Montreal.

A dozen of the warrants were executed at garden supply stores in
Montreal and Laval that specialize in hydroponic equipment used to
grow plants indoors.

"This operation followed an investigation that began in 2005 relative
to the discovery of a large-scale production of marijuana. The
activities of the network gravitated around a dozen garden equipment
businesses," the SQ said in a release.

Thi Duong Le, 51, of St. Leonard, was one of 90 people named in a
12-page indictment filed at the Montreal courthouse yesterday. He is
listed on the Quebec business registry as owner of the TTN Garden
Equipment Centre on Langelier Blvd. The store was one of the 12
police searched yesterday.

The indictment lists a total of 75 charges alleging both the
production and trafficking of marijuana. Two Montreal residents,
Kevin Mai, 34, and Thuy Huong Nguyen, 30, are also charged with
counselling people to commit a crime that did not take place

Many of the people who appeared before a judge at the Montreal
courthouse yesterday - via a video linkup with a holding cell in the
Montreal police North Operations Centre - were accused of being
involved in small groups, composed of three to nine people, alleged
to have conspired to traffic in marijuana in 2007 and 2008.

Several of the accused required the services of a Vietnamese
interpreter. Most were released after agreeing to post deposits for
bail between $1,500 and $5,000 and to follow a series of conditions.

- - In Quebec City yesterday, police launched a similar operation that
targeted marijuana growers based in and around the provincial
capital. Eleven people were arrested in an investigation dubbed
Project Absent, a probe into marijuana grow-ops found in houses.

Two people from Montreal were included among those arrested yesterday
morning. A third Montreal resident is wanted on a warrant issued in
that investigation.

According to SQ Sgt. Joyce Kemp, the two investigations were
conducted independent of each other.