DRUG BUST CHARGES PENDING

Charges have not yet been laid against two men arrested at the site of a
large outdoor marijuana grow operation last week.

"We want to have everything together before we forward it to Crown
Counsel," says Cpl. Rob Klassen of the Port Hardy RCMP. The two young men
have been released until a court appearance in January.

The men, who are from the Lower Mainland, were at the site northwest of
Port Hardy when 40 police and others from the Vancouver Island eradication
team descended upon them Aug. 22.

More than 6,700 plants were destroyed - the largest outdoor grow op bust
ever on Vancouver Island.

Klassen says the site has also been reviewed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada
and the Ministry of Water Land and Air Protection to assess environmental
damage. He says some chemical nutrients were used in growing the marijuana
plants but not enough he believes to create significant environmental damage.