cannabisnews.com: Reefer Madness, Cops Harvest Millions in Pot Busts





Reefer Madness, Cops Harvest Millions in Pot Busts
Posted by FoM on September 18, 1999 at 05:37:08 PT
By Jason Cumming
Source: Ottawa Sun
A Killaloe OPP raid that smashed yet another area pot plantation means police have put almost $26 million of the drug up in smoke this month alone. 
Tipped-off investigators raided an Old Barry's Bay Rd. residence early Thursday, uncovering $225,000 in marijuana and a full-fledged hydroponics lab inside. But while police experts brand their tough end-of-summer eradication blitz a success, they admit it's barely denting the street supply. "It has been stepped up, certainly we're finding more," regional police drug squad Staff-Sgt. Larry Colotelo said yesterday. "We're getting probably a very small percentage of it."  HUGE FIND Last week, OPP and regional officers found a crop totalling $15 million on a rural West Carleton property -- one of the biggest such finds in recent years. A week earlier, cops uprooted 10,000 plants with street value of $10 million in various Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry and Prescott-Russell farmers' fields. And this past Tuesday, $350,000 worth was hauled off a Fort Rd. vacant lot by narcotics officers in Val-des-Monts. Within 10 days in July, Quebec police also shut down a Montebello operation capable of producing $5 million worth of the drug annually before seizing $1 million more from a Cantley house. Utilizing a small plane and with help from the public, law enforcement has this year heightened attempts to seek and destroy Eastern Ontario plots of pot -- often linked to bikers and other organized crime groups.  SEASON'S END "It's the end of the growing season and we have to get it now before the people growing it take it out," Colotelo said. Police say that although soil conditions are good here, a large amount of the weed on the streets is imported from upstate New York. "It's a cash crop, you take your chances growing it," Colotelo added. "It's labour intensive but with time and effort the profits are good. There's a lot of money to be made, all tax-free. You can get good returns." Despite the amount recovered in recent weeks, production here still is nowhere near that in British Columbia -- renowned for its top-quality weed. It's estimated that marijuana is an $8-billion industry nationally -- half of that in Canada's westernmost province alone. Pubdate: September 18, 1999By JASON CUMMING -- Ottawa SunCopyright © 1999, Quebecor New Media Limited Partnership
Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help




Post Comment


Name: Optional Password: 
E-Mail: 
Subject: 
Comment: [Please refrain from using profanity in your message]
Link URL: 
Link Title: