TWO MEN ARRESTED IN DRUG BUST

SYDNEY - Two Cape Breton men were arrested Wednesday after a drug bust in
the downtown yielded more than 200 mature plants, worth anywhere from
$200,000 to $500,000 on the street.

Sgt. Lou Marinelli, of the Cape Breton Regional Police street crime/drug
unit, said police had been watching the Dorchester Street building since
January.

Police are not sure who the current owners are or if they were involved in
the operation.

The building was once home to the Cape Breton Post. The newspaper moved
from the building to its current location on George Street in the mid-1980s
and sold the building.

Police executed the bust shortly after 2 p.m. Once inside, they found a
sophisticated grow operation, with $200,000 in marijuana plants and the
potential to produce over half a million dollars if the rest of the plants
"had still been there," according to Marinelli.

The grow operation was aeroponic, where no soil is used and the roots of
the plants are supplied vitamins and nutrients through a watering system.

"It's a quicker yield, with a higher THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) content,"
said Marinelli.

The two men will be facing cultivation charges this morning in provincial
court. Their ages and names have not been released.