BLITZ TARGETS YORK GROW-OPS

Eight Children Taken Into Custody By CAS As Part Of Operation

York Region police raided 19 homes and seized more than $5 million in
marijuana plants and charged 15 people with 38 drug-related offences
as part of an eight-day blitz targeting marijuana grow operations.

As well, eight children were taken into care by the York Region
Children's Aid Society -- an indication that more and more grow-ops
are using family settings to set up their operations.

"There was evidence which indicated children lived in these homes,"
Detective Constable Robert Muir said in a news release. A total of
5,595 marijuana plants were seized as well as $2,075 in Canadian currency.

Three of these residences were stealing electricity to power the grow
operations, while the remaining 16 paid for the consumption of
electricity and contained smaller scale grow operations, York Region
police say.

Police expressed concern that three furnaces had been disconnected,
which caused carbon monoxide to leak throughout the homes.

"The growers mistakenly believed the disconnected furnaces would emit
carbon dioxide which would assist in the growth of the plants,"
Detective Constable Muir said in a news release.