Ontario (Canada) police seize 30,000 pot plants in former brewery

[Wonk]

BARRIE, ONT. - Calling it the largest and most sophisticated marijuana operation in Canadian history, Ontario police said they have seized 30,000 plants which they say is worth more than $30 million in a former Molson brewery facility.

(snip)

Nine men were arrested in connection with the operation. Investigators say they later uncovered 3,000 more marijuana plants in a nearby industrial complex.

Police said both operations were conducted on a 24-hour basis.

(snip)

Police said the growers used more than 5,574 square metres in the operation. They also had living accommodations for up to 50 people, including common areas, televisions, refrigerators and stoves.

more...
http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/01/12/pot040112
http://news.google.com/news?q=brewery+marijuana

[Don Claybrook]

1. A truly sad day for Canada

I will observe a moment of silence (in which I will wish I had just some tiny part of that bountiful harvest).

[htuttle]

7. Oh the Humanity!

I weep.

[arcos]

10. not funny... n/t

[saigon68]

20. THIS IS FUNNY

[brainshrub]

2. That place sounds soooo groovy!

Other than the fear of being arrested, I would have loved to live there.

Does Canada have minimum sentencing laws?

[ConcernedCanuk]

6. nope - and Max for this is around 3 years ! - no weapons involved

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. Actually

- the Ontario Provincial Police were on TV today telling us how proritable it was, and hard to stop because the penalties are so lenient !

- it's "cultivating"

- not trafficking, so is a sorta "minor" charge

Over 30 million bucks street value though

and only 2 hours away from where I live -

DARN - I missed it all !

. . . . . . .

[NNN0LHI]

3. The 50,000 dollar a month electric bill was a dead give a way n/t

[45th Med]

4. GAH!

There goes all my medical marijuana!!!

[LosinIt]

5. Yes, the alcohol is soooo much better for us than pot

.....

[bubblesby2002]

8. This is abominable

I truly hope it doesn't drive the price up - you know supply and demand etc. etc. But really, I just wish the cops would stop looking for grow-ops and concentrate on the really big crime: municipal, provincial, and federal politics.

[DrWeird]

9. Drive the price up?

Please. This is a tiny little drop in the bucket. Sure it's probably one of the bigger grow ops out there, but there's thousands of them.

[bubblesby2002]

18. Just kidding

I meant that to be a joke. I guess it didn't turn out that funny. Oh well. I live in BC where the supply is just fine.

[htuttle]

11. How do they quantify cultivation charges in Canada?

Here in the US, the police generally use notoriously broad rules when they are counting and/or weighing plants for the purpose of charging the farmer.

For example, counting each cutting in the rooting tank as a productive 'plant', weighing not only the plant, but the dirt it was grown in, etc...

(I always love the dollar figures they give in cases like this. $30,000,000 worth of pot, eh? Sure, if they sold it themselves one joint at a time...to frat guys...at Yale...).

[ConcernedCanuk]

12. Updated story, with PICS - was a "community" in there !

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From another article:



Clik on picture for link to story and GALLERY

Dozens tended massive pot crop

Massive marijuana scheme worth 'hundreds of millions,' police say

Inside the Barrie brewery, officers found areas that had been set aside for living accommodations for up to 50 individuals who would look after the marijuana plants and included common areas, beds, televisions, fridges and stoves similar to a dormitory-type facility, police say.

"We were in there for two days securing the location. It's about 60,000 square feet," said Bill Crate, superintendent of the OPP.

"There's living quarters in there. Everything from seed to packaged plants for distribution. I suspect we'll be in there for weeks gathering evidence and we'll be in there weeks more dismantling it. There is over a million dollars worth of equipment in there. There's miles and miles and miles of electrical wire and water hoses. It's quite incredible."

The investigation showed that more than a thousand hydroponics lights were being used to provide artificial light for the plants. This operation would be capable of producing up to three or four crops per year, generating hundreds of millions of dollars, police said.

/snip/

Lotta sad peeps around - but hmmm - they only arrested 9 ?

Musta caught them on a "slow" shift ?

[mike1963]

13. I suppose the statute of limitations applies - in 1977, my Canadian friend

from Montreal came to visit me, he had rented a U-Haul or some sort of rental truck and brought a 55 gallon drum of hash oil. I am not making this up. He wasn't a drug dealer, but got hold of this trove through a friend who owned a Mobil oil and grease dealership there...among the hundreds (thousands?) of drums in the warehouse, some percentage contained the black gooey stuff refined from hemp. He kept about a quart of it and got rid of the rest (I didn't ask), but there was a lot of hilarity in our town for months after that moment. Ah, memories.
;-)

[Venomous_Rhetoric]

14. I have

Never made $1,000.00 From one pot plant before.... I guess they weigh "wet" with the tree trunk and branches still on...

[stevedeshazer]

15. Yikes

Not that I'd know, of course. :smoke:

[KTM]

16. A fromer Molson brewery ??

hehe.. I guess there is some truth to the slogan - "it's in the water."

[truthspeaker]

17. that's right, put successful entrepaneurs in jail

and let the corporate crooks roam free.

[ConcernedCanuk]

19. Just some more info, and a "teaser" pic

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Hundreds of marijuana plants grow under lights inside a beer vat at the former Molson's brewery site in Barrie. Police say it's Canada's largest grow operation found.



"A police video of the raid showed a tropical jungle of marijuana plant rows stretching into the distance of the vast building. Other shots showed plants squashed into every available space, on tables, on desks and on the floor. Huge drawers used to dry the harvested marijuana were visible, each one brimming with buds. "

/snip

"A former tenant who ran a business from the complex said another of the companies would continually roast coffee beans, which would also mask any smell.

The tenant said internal loading docks — there are external docks as well — would allow the possibility of shipping out products undercover."

/snip/

hmmmm - durn it, now the cops will be puttin' warehouses, and specially old "Molson" buildings under scrutiny ?

Can we work this into a "terror" thing sumhow,

ya know, jus for Junior down there ?

Oh yah,

ok,

I got it, they musta been giving the $$$ to terrarists !

hmmmm - jus realized,

the cops ain't said much about finding any $$$$$ ? ?