POT SUSPECTS ARRESTED TOTING GUNS, COP GEAR

COBOCONK - Six men have been charged with impersonating
police officers and a multitude of drug and weapons offences after the
Ontario Provincial Police seized $18 million worth of marijuana at a
massive outdoor grow operation over the weekend.

Officers from the OPP Emergency Response Unit and Drug Enforcement
Unit were at the grow operation on Kawartha Lakes Road 45 in Laxton
Township on Sunday when six men dressed as police officers entered the
grow site.

The men, who were armed with handguns and one high-powered rifle, were
dressed in tactical police gear.

One man was wearing a bulletproof vest and the rest had other police
paraphernalia, which included plastic windbreaker-style jackets
clearly marked with "POLICE," imitation badges and collapsible batons.

The men had begun to cut the marijuana and were in the process of
harvesting the plants when they were arrested by the Emergency
Response Team.

Although the suspects surrendered fairly quickly and there were no
shots fired in the standoff between the suspects and officers, OPP
Deputy Commissioner Vaughn Collins said the situation could have been
much more grave.

"I expect we were seconds away from a gun fight that could have
resulted in death or injury for our officers and members of the
public," Collins said at an afternoon press conference outside the
Coboconk OPP detachment Monday afternoon.

Members of the Tactics and Rescue Unit, Canine Unit and City of
Kawartha Lakes OPP detachment searched the area to ensure all suspects
had been apprehended. A pickup truck and a one-ton delivery van were
seized from the scene.

Although the incident is still under investigation, police believe the
six men were there to steal crops for their own use.

Collins described the current grow operation situation in the province
as an epidemic, estimating that there are about 15,000 illegal
marijuana grow operations in Ontario, a number that has overwhelmed
their drug enforcement officers.

"Our officers across the province are overwhelmed in just reacting to
the amount of grow operations. We can't keep up to the volume that's
out there," Collins explained. "We don't need to look for them - they
are right in our face."

Collins said the battle the police are waging on pot grow operations
is not one they are winning.

OPP Det. Insp. Frank Elders said Sunday's incident surprised the
officers who were already on the scene investigating the pot grow operation.

"I would say shock is a pleasant word," Elders said, describing the
reaction of OPP officers to the arrival of the suspects.

Elders also noted that the public perception about grow houses is not
necessarily accurate.

Police do not know who owns the rural property where the two clear
grow plots are located, nor where the suspects would have gotten the
police equipment.

Collins stressed that laws in the province need to provide more of a
deterrent for offenders.

"Eighteen million dollars in profits versus a few months in jail isn't
much of a deterrent," Collins said. "Police resources are overwhelmed
to the extent that this is all we are doing in drug enforcement. This
will continue as long as the profit far outweighs the risk," Collins
said.

"There was $500 million in stolen electricity from grow houses across
the province last year," Collins said.

Police could not say whether organized crime was involved in the
operation, however Jamie Ciotka, unit commander for Kawartha Combined
Forces drug unit, said it had to be a big organization overseeing the
operation.

Police are continuing their investigation.

Charged with several drug and weapons charges including personate
peace officer, possession of firearm without a licence, producing
controlled substance and producing substance for the purpose of
trafficking are a 50-year-old Port Perry man and his sons aged 26 and
29, a 30-year-old Oshawa man, a 27-year-old Port Perry man and a
28-year-old Uxbridge man.

All are being held for a bail hearing and will appear in Lindsay court
on Wednesday.