WEED BUST SETS RECORD

290 Kilos Seized At Weigh Scale

Falcon Lake RCMP seized a record-setting 290 kilograms of Toronto-bound
marijuana worth an estimated $4.4 million at the West Hawk Lake weigh
scales on the weekend.

'Significant Amount'

"It certainly is a very significant amount," said Cpl. Bob Ross, an
investigator and supervisor with the RCMP drug unit. "On the big scale,
it's not a real large amount in terms of what is sometimes seen in B.C. or
the eastern provinces but certainly it would have some impact."

With a value exceeding $4 million if sold on the street by the gram, the
seizure tops a previous record set by the Falcon Lake detachment in March
when 270 kilograms of pot was seized at the site.

Department of Transport inspectors found a suspicious load inside an
eastbound semi-trailer coming from British Columbia on Sunday afternoon.

Officers searched the truck and trailer that night with help from a police
dog and uncovered 28 cardboard boxes of high-grade, packaged marijuana
mixed in with other freight.

The driver was taken into custody. Harvinder Singh, from Mississauga, Ont.,
has been charged with possession of a controlled substance for the purpose
of trafficking.

"Any drugs moving across the province going from west to east at some point
is travelling the No. 1 Highway, which would put them by the scales," Ross
said. "It's (the inspectors') job to check on the truck loads, and they
have some very effective workers there."

In the past year, inspectors and RCMP have seized more than 855 kilograms
of marijuana at the weigh scale on the Trans-Canada Highway at the
Manitoba-Ontario boundary. The site is a significant choke point in the
drug pipeline between British Columbia and Ontario.