COPS STUNNED BY SCOPE OF GROW OP

BARRIE -- Police say they are overwhelmed by the size of the indoor pot
grow operation inside the former Molson's brewery here and believe it's the
largest ever found in Ontario. "I can't even begin to describe it," said
OPP Supt. Bill Crate, after touring the massive building. "This operation
is twice the size we thought it was yesterday."

A second huge marijuana grow operation was discovered just north of the
city yesterday when police raided a commercial building in Oro-Medonte.

"To give you some perspective, think about this," explained Crate. "An
average grow house in a residential area can produce about 500 plants.

"At the one in Oro-Medonte, they found thousands and thousands of plants,
and that was small compared to the brewery," he said.

On Saturday, more than 100 officers swarmed the three-storey, 125,000
sq.-ft. former brewery which has sat mostly empty since November 1999.

Crate described huge vats where plants grew and sleeping quarters for
workers who took shifts so they could work the harvest day and night.

24-Hour Factory

"It was run like a 24-hour factory," he said. "We were quite surprised that
it was so sophisticated. I can't believe such a huge operation was growing
right under our noses in a location that I have driven by day after day."

Police have arrested 11 people found in the plant. Charges have not yet
been laid because they haven't been brought before a Justice of the Peace.

Despite the seriousness of the matter, one police officer couldn't help but
chide: "It used to be filled with Coors Light but now it's filled with buds."