How did huge grow operation go undetected?

Barrie civic officials need to investigate how a marijuana grow operation
was able to set up in one of the city's largest buildings under the radar of
municipal building inspectors and permit issuers, a councillor says. "We are
looking into it and working with police services," said Barrie Councillor
Steve Trotter, three days after police busted the $30-million grow operation
at the former Molson brewery plant.

"The system is built on the honour system," he added. "People are obligated
to get permits."

Rumours about marijuana production in the plant go back to last year when it
was a popular topic of conversation among crews who worked on film
productions in the same building.

Newnew Films Ontario produced commercials in the fall at the plant for the
German company BiFi, which produces pepperoni sticks.

"You just knew someone was producing pot in there," said a man who worked on
the site last year for a commercial film production and requested anonymity.

"There were these huge steel doors that must have blocked off the marijuana
from us but everyone talked about it.

"All day long you would see these strange people walking in and out of the
place and everyone knew there was no beer being produced. The lights set up,
the way the plant was put together, it was a perfect place for a marijuana
operation. The rumours were rampant that it was a massive marijuana
factory."

There were parts of the plant where access was strictly denied, John
Bardwell, a location scouter for the film company said, adding there were
security checkpoints to enter the facility.

Jamie Massie with Georgian Pontiac Buick GMC Inc. said he rented space at
the plant for his excess vehicles because the owners -- Fercan Developments
Inc, which did not return calls yesterday -- had their own employees as
security guards which made him feel secure his property would be safe.

'EXTREMELY SURPRISING'

"It was a security bonus. There was always a guard watching things. I did
always wonder why the place wasn't being developed."

No one was more surprised to find out what was growing in the Barrie plant
than James and Nancy Kelly, owners of a trucking company that rents space in
the old factory.

"I could not fathom anything like that going on there," said James Kelly,
owner of Karlea Transport. "It's extremely surprising."

Karlea's office space is at the north end of the old Molson building, about
500 metres away from the huge grow operation.

"I didn't even know that end of the building was occupied," Kelly said.

Karlea used the office space and the loading docks in the building, and
never saw anything strange at all. Kelly said they've seen a lot of the
building because they would sometimes walk through the area belonging to
Aurora Beverages to get to the loading dock.

Kelly said there are 12 loading docks at the plant and it's an open space,
not sectioned off.

"If they had been doing it during the day we would have seen it," he said.
"The only thing I've ever seen is machinery from the water plant."

TRUCK IMPOUNDED

Kelly now has a bigger concern. One of his trucks is impounded and his
customer list is trapped inside the cordoned-off building. He's not sure how
long it might be before he gets his truck back. Police have told him it
could be as long as nine weeks before the area reopens.

"If that happens we can't survive," he said. "The banks will want their
money."

He also said it's been implied that the trucking companies were being used
to move the marijuana.

"That's out-and-out false," Kelly said.

The Kellys only knew two of the other businesses in the 39,000-square-metre
plant, National Roasters, a coffee company, and Aurora Beverages, managed by
Vince DeRosa, who also runs Fercan Development, the company that owns the
old Molson plant.

The men charged in the pot bust have been ordered not to associate with
DeRosa, or his brother Robert, as part of their bail conditions. The DeRosas
have not been charged.

Again yesterday, no one at Fercan would comment on the charges or the
marijuana operation at the plant, only saying they were unaware of what was
happening inside.



Pubdate: Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Source: Toronto Sun (CN ON)
Contact: editor@sunpub.com
Website: http://www.canoe.com/NewsStand/TorontoSun/home.html
Author: Kevin Connor and Jason Botchford