NO CHARGES COMING IN $1M POT BUST

Nobody will be going to jail over a pair of huge Peace Country drug busts that
resulted in the seizure of at least $1 million worth of pot last week, said
Mounties.

Peace River RCMP, aided by the joint Edmonton Police-RCMP ''Green Team'',
raided two large grow operations Aug. 7.

The first grow-op netted over 2,500 mature marijuana plants as well as a large
amount that had already been harvested.

The second raid of the day brought in more than 1,000 marijuana plants in
various stages of growth.

But this week cops said they didn't expect to charge anyone in connection with
either pot farm.

"At this point I don't foresee any charges. The mission of the Green Team is to
detect and eradicate grow operations," said Staff Sgt. Ken Hainsworth of the
Peace River RCMP.

"The timetable is such that it doesn't lend itself to finding out who is
responsible for the grow.

"Their mandate is to find it and get rid of it and so be it."

One of the operations was located a few kilometres from Grimshaw, while the
other was in the Harmon Valley area southeast of Peace River.

Police said a conservative estimate of the street value of the seized marijuana
would be $1 million. Police had to use a dump truck to transport the drugs,
which have since been destroyed.

Though the growers behind the marijuana go free, Hainsworth said the bust is
still a victory because it destroys an enormous amount of drugs that could find
their way onto the street.

"It certainly eliminates a fair chunk of marijuana from the market. Not just
the Peace River area, because this stuff would be moving all over the
province."

Edmonton Police spokesman Wes Bellmore said though the Green Team usually tries
to make arrests as well, it's not unusual for them to move in quickly to seize
marijuana without catching the growers.

"In this case it seems to be the case. Not in all cases can they prove... who
actually owns the pot," he said. "If you don't have sufficient information to
lay a criminal charge, you go in and chop down the pot and get a destruction
order."

BIG-MONEY BUSTS

Other big-money pot busts in the Peace Country, however, have led to arrests
and criminal charges.

A record-breaking $5 million marijuana bust in August 2002 near Valleyview by
RCMP and the Green Team led to the arrest of Valleyview man Leroy Jones.

Jones pleaded guilty in November to cultivation of marijuana and possession of
drugs for the purpose of trafficking and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and
fined $1,000.

In July 2001, three men were charged in connection with a raid on a rural
residence near Sunset House, east of Valleyview, that netted $600,000 worth of
marijuana.

Charges were later dropped against one of the men, but Gerald Allen Brown and
Tom Goucher of Sunset House are awaiting trial on charges of production of
marijuana, possession of marijuana for trafficking, possession of the proceeds
of crime and unsafe storage of a firearm.

Their trial is set for Sept. 29 in Court of Queen's Bench in Grande Prairie.