GREEN ACRES

Mounties Seize 1,500 Marijuana Plants In Raid On Sophisticated Pot
Farm In Kelowna

KELOWNA -- The Mounties have busted a major grow-op they believe was
assembled by organized criminals. Their raid Thursday yielded 1,505
mature marijuana plants, surveillance cameras, motion detectors, guard
dogs and thousands of dollars worth of electrical equipment. "This is
a very sophisticated operation," said RCMP spokesman Cpl. Reg Burgess.
"A lot of money and effort were put into it . . . it definitely seems
to be involved in organized crime." Members of the RCMP's Southeast
District drug section and city detachment executed a search warrant at
5017 Anderson Rd. in the rural area of Ellison in north Kelowna. The
property is a remote, forested acreage with no house number

Police found a modern house and a large, green outbuilding nearby,
which they suspect was built specifically to shelter the pot farm. The
building was subdivided into six rooms, each containing plants in
different stages of growth

A small grow-op was also located in the basement of the house

A 36-year-old man was arrested on the property. Police believe he was
the "crop-sitter" hired by criminals to guard the operation around the
clock. He was still being held Friday

Investigators won't say whether they suspect the Hells Angels were
bankrolling the grow-op. They're checking all leads, Burgess said

Access to the property was restricted, but police released video
footage of the property. It shows a diesel generator inside a metal
storage container buried three metres in the ground, possibly to mute
the noise. It zooms in on electrical cable used to bypass the hydro
meter and steal electricity undetected

The operation was "professionally wired and plumbed," say police

The building was cooled by three commercial air-conditioning units,
one of which was seeping green sludge toward horse pastures below.
Ninety-six high-powered grow lights were suspended above the plants.
Hundreds of metres of heavy-duty electrical cables powered the lights
and time-release devices that feed the plants liquid fertilizer and
water

Several closed-circuit surveillance cameras were mounted throughout
the property, including inside a bird house and a wall clock. An
indoor monitor showed four views of the property. A motion detector,
camera and alarm were installed in the fenced gate

Two German shepherds barked in a wire cage when the footage was taken.
Police also found a can of bear spray, a retractable baton and knives.
The bust is one of the largest in the Central Okanagan in 10 years.
Police busted an underground bunker on nearby Black Road in the
mid-1990s, when about 1,600 pot plants were found

Police were reluctant to estimate the value of the marijuana, but the
general rule of thumb is each plant produces about a pound per
harvest. A pound is worth at least $1,000

The house and building were impossible to see from the road.
Neighbours say the property is difficult to notice

"It's a good place to have it because you can't see it. It's hidden up
in the bushes," said one resident. "I've seen fancy Porsches going by
here."