RCMP AFTER 30,000 MARIJUANA PLANTS

RCMP are hoping to net 30,000 marijuana plants in a helicopter search
of Vancouver Island this fall -- the equivalent of three million joints.

The RCMP Federal Drug Enforcement Branch, along with the Canadian
Forces and Vancouver Island police officers, have already seized
24,500 plants since the "harvest" kicked off last week, police said.

The warm weather produced a bumper crop this year, RCMP said. The
complex growing operations, often buried deep in the woods, usually
range in size from 200 to 900 plants, investigators said. A plant has
an estimated street value of $1,000.