POT HARVEST KEEPS COPS BUSY

More than $1 million worth of marijuana will go up in smoke after
police harvest the local contraband crop.

Officers with the Chatham-Kent Police Service's drug enforcement unit,
with the help of members of the RCMP's Windsor drug detachment, pulled
approximately 1,000 pot plants from local fields this week.

Sgt. Jeff Schamahorn, head of the CKPS drug unit, said officers
collected the illegal crop from 32 fields throughout the
municipality.

They were acting on tips to Chatham-Kent Crime Stoppers.

"It was excellent," Schamahorn said of this year's eradication effort.
"It was higher than expected."

Drug officers donned gloves, long-sleeve shirts and safety goggles to
tromp through the fields in search of marijuana plants yesterday.

Using a photo taken from the air, the officers fanned out and entered
a field in the Raleigh area in search of three spots of pot growing in
amongst the corn.

They methodically searched the field until the marijuana was located.
More than 50 plants were seized from the one field.

"We pull them out by the root," said Const. Cole Abbott, who this year
participated in his first harvest.

He said despite the difficulty of navigating the fields, the efforts
are worth it.

Const. Dan Graham agreed. "It's nice disrupting the drug dealers'
business," he said. "At the end of the day, that's the goal . . . to
take the drugs off the streets."

Const. Paul Dickson, co-ordinator of Crime Stoppers, said the
eradication program is possible because of tips from the public.

He said pilots often report contraband crop they spot from the air and
citizens offer tips about suspicious activity around local fields.

"We've received numerous tips this year," he said, adding people are
urged to report suspicious vehicles and people.

"Chances are if it looks like a skunk and smells like a skunk, it's a
skunk," he said.

Dickson is hoping this year's haul is as big as ones in the
past.

"It hasn't been a great growing summer," he said. "The cool summer has
delayed the harvest."

He said while pot is usually planted in corn fields, he's seen the
drug tied down and growing amongst soybeans.

Schamahorn said despite this year's poor growing weather, the plants
were plentiful and productive.

"We saw a lot of plants that were heavy with bud. That's the dope," he
said. "The bud has the highest concentration of THC (active chemical
in marijuana)."

Schamahorn said a typical plant can produce four to five ounces of
marijuana, with an ounce selling for $200 to $300. Some of the plants
pulled this season could produce as much as eight ounces, he said.

The drug officer said it's hard to quantify the impact the harvest
will have on the local drug trade.

"A lot of the plants we pull out are grown for outlaw motorcycle
gangs," Schamahorn said, noting that means any plants pulled hurt
organized crime.

Dickson said it's unclear how much of the crop stays in the
municipality.

"A lot of the stuff is exported and trafficked wherever the demand
is," he said, noting locally grown weed is sought after.

"It's pretty well known that Chatham- Kent grows some of the best
marijuana."

Dickson said the plants are usually started in indoor grow houses and
then transplanted into fields.

Anyone with information about local contraband crops is urged to call
Crime Stoppers at 519-351-8477 or 1-800-222- TIPS.