B&E SUSPECTS LEAD CITY POLICE TO DRUG HOUSE

One Man Charged With Possession Of Pot, Grow Operation Busted On
Salter Street

Police got two crimes for the price of one yesterday when they charged
a 21-year-old man with marijuana possession -- and then found a
$295,000 grow operation the man and two accomplices had allegedly just
robbed.

It was a bad weekend all around for people suspected of being in the
drug trade.

Winnipeg police saw three young men lugging green garbage bags on
Salter Street at Burrows Avenue about 5 a.m. yesterday, police duty
Insp. Roy Smith said.

Two men made a run for it, but police caught the third.

"Those green garbage bags contained marijuana," in the form of potted
plants, Smith said.

"No honour among thieves -- they ripped off a residence," Smith said.
"They had actually broken into a residence on Salter, knowing a grow
op was there." Police immediately searched the Salter Street
residence. "We seized 176 plants," and hydroponics equipment with a
value of $295,000, said Smith.

Police are now looking for the people behind the grow op.

There was another major drug bust Saturday evening.

Police working as part of Operation Pipeline -- who've received
special training to spot suspicious behaviour -- pulled over a car
bearing B.C. plates on the Trans-Canada Highway at Camp Manitou Road
on the city's western edge, Smith said.

"They were able to seize 20 pounds of marijuana, with a street value
of $90,000," he said "It was seized in various locales, even under the
hood."

Police arrested a 37-year-old man from Kamloops. He will appear in
court this morning. Smith said police stopped the man for an equipment
violation, and asked him a series of questions that led to the search
of the vehicle.

He said police don't want anyone to know what they consider suspicious
behaviour. "They have certain indicators. I don't think that's
something they're going to be disclosing," Smith said.

Police also busted a grow op in west Kildonan late Friday night, Smith
said.

They searched a house on Spruce Thicket Walk.

"There was a grow operation, and they seized a number of plants and
hydroponics equipment," Smith said.