COPS WEED OUT $31M IN GRASS

30,500 Pot Plants Seized In Joint Effort Targeting Eastern Ontario

A TWO-WEEK joint operation in Eastern Ontario has netted police more than
30,500 pot plants -- nearly triple the number of plants seized from a
similar drug sweep a year earlier. Police said the marijuana plants, with
an estimated street value of more than $31 million, were seized between
Sept. 7 and Sept. 17 from communities across Eastern Ontario.

Outdoor grow ops in Prescott, Russell County, Pembroke, Smiths Falls,
Brockville, Killaloe, Madoc, Bancroft, South Frontenac County, Napanee,
Belleville and Kingston were targeted.

According to officers with the Kingston RCMP drug unit, who participated in
the sweep with officers from the OPP and several municipal forces, the
large increase in grow ops appears to be connected to organized crime.

"We cover the same areas. It's just that the grows appear to be a little
more significant over the past few years," said Kingston RCMP Cpl. Randie
Smith, adding police have seen a marked increase in the number of grow
operations in Eastern Ontario. Only 12,000 plants were found in last year's
sweep.

HIDDEN LOCATIONS

"You will see more and more (organized groups) are coming in to the bigger
grows," said Smith.

Smith said marijuana growers are planting more grows in increasingly
inaccessible locations with the knowledge that police might not have the
time or resources to find them all.

"They are basically cutting their losses," said Smith. "If they lose one,
they still have two or three to fall back on."

Typically, the larger marijuana grows -- some as large as 15,000 plants --
are the ones connected to organized crime, which frequently include Asian
crime syndicates, Smith said.

The grow operations busted during the latest sweep varied in size from a
few hundred to thousands of pot plants, with the largest being a
16,000-plant operation near Tamworth, north of Napanee.

According to the Ottawa OPP drug enforcement unit, about a third of the
30,500 plants were seized from communities immediately surrounding Ottawa.

While few arrests were made in conjunction with the sweep, police said
investigations have been opened that may lead to charges and more seizures
are expected.