UP IN SMOKE

Fire Call Uncovers Large Grow-Op In Wainfleet

WAINFLEET - A running garden hose, a spent fire extinguisher and a massive
amount of marijuana -- worth upwards of $5 million -- is what was left
behind at Wainfleet greenhouses that weren't used for a cucumber farm, as a
sign out front instead suggests to passersby.

Niagara Regional Police early Tuesday morning were summoned to one of the
area's largest pot discoveries in years after an alert trucker spotted
flames coming from the plastic-enclosed structures at the rear of a
two-storey farmhouse on Highway 3, some 6.5 kilometres west of Chambers
Corners near Sider Road.

While a sign out front from a defunct business suggests the farm is where
English cucumbers are grown, firefighters -- who could have unwittingly
stumbled upon a booby-trapped bounty -- learned otherwise and called police.

Media relations officer Const. Sal Basilone said inside two-thirds of a
series of about 14 long, conjoined greenhouses were found between 5,000 and
6,000 marijuana plants in various stages of growth and worth an estimated
street value of between $5 million and $6 million.

The "fairly large-scale" marijuana was grown under thousands of low-hung,
high-intensity lights inside the buildings at the rear of an older beige
California stuccoed farmhouse. A fenced deck leads to a partly sunken
swimming pool.

Basilone said detectives from the regional police morality unit are
expected to remain on scene for the next two days before the operation is
dismantled.

It was a passing truck driver who called in the report of fire at 53634
Hwy. 3 and to which firefighters were first dispatched at 2:14 a.m.

At least one person is believed to have fled the scene just prior to the
arrival of firefighters.

"We found one discarded fire extinguisher and a garden hose still running
on the ground, which indicates they may have tried to put (the fire) out,"
Port Colborne and Wainfleet fire departments chief Tom Cartwright told
reporters.

He said the fire appears to have been caused by an electrical short in a
diesel-powered generator, one of two power supply units housed in an
insulated room constructed within one greenhouse unit.

Cartwright said it was designed to keep noise muffled from neighbours.

According to Township of Wainfleet records, the property just three
kilometres west of the community of Winger since 2003 has been listed as
owned by MKJ Greenhouses.

The name appears on a sign nearby the driveway, accompanied by the words
"English cucumbers."

The Tribune has learned that not long ago the property was promoted for
sale in a full-colour brochure called Opportunities in Niagara's Greenhouse
Economy and produced by Niagara Economic and Tourism Corp., the non-profit
economic development arm of the regional government.

No one from NETCorp was available to comment on the property's detailed
history, but a source said the greenhouses had been used for growing proper
cucumbers before the buildings were rented out.

The property later slipped into receivership.

Mayor Gord Harry said news of the marijuana discovery was "shocking" and a
"surprise."

He said police told him they were unaware the operation existed prior to
Tuesday's fire.

"People have been asking me is it because farmers have been having a
difficult time -- I really don't believe that's the case," Harry said.

"I just believe somebody's done it and thought they'd make a fast dollar
and get away with it."

Basilone was not prepared Tuesday night to release details on any suspects
and could not say for certain if more than one person is being sought.