Inside Canada's Biggest Pot Bust

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This is the site of the largest marijuana bust in Canadian history.

From the road, the property south of Pembroke looks like an average farm. Sheep stand beside hay in a field beside a small patchwork house. Rolling fields of corn stretch far into the distance.

There are about 105 acres of land here, according to police. About half is covered by cornfields.

A dirt road leads to a house, a weather-beaten barn and two-door garage. A pair of work boots are lodged into a satellite antenna beside the home. A clearing to the right of the garage leads through trees to the back of the property, opening onto a dry yellow cornfield that was raided by police last weekend.

Leftover tape -- "O.P.P. CRIME SCENE" -- is still tied to a stalk, flapping when the leaves rustle.

Swaths of corn appear to have been trampled by police, leaving tracks that look like crop circles.

It took at least six shipping-type containers, loaded onto flatbed trucks, to cart away the 40,000 marijuana plants seized during the raid, police said.

The plants, taken during an operation that included at least 30 police and auxiliary officers, were later buried in a "secure site," according to police, who valued the seizure at $40 million.

Remnants of the unplanned harvest remain in the broken stalks of corn: Plants, with green leaves, that leave a pungent smell on the hands.

The field

The field in which marijuana grew was surrounded by a "buffer zone" of field that only contained corn, police said. The field, which police estimated as being the size of five or six football fields, contained marijuana plants that often were around six feet tall, about a foot shorter than much of the corn crop.

The house

A small two-storey house on the property was sparsely furnished, with bare walls. It had also been searched by police. Through the windows of the living room, piles of southeast Asian DVDs could be seen in a pile on the floor near a television in the corner. An air mattress sat on its side by a window. Books about farming equipment could also be seen inside.

The garage

A bare two-door garage stands a short distance away from the house and is where police say the harvested crop would have been dried.

Irrigation

The crop was watered by plastic tubing that ran throughout the field, police said. The tubes would be fed from a pond and an above-ground swimming pool on the property, according to police.

The property, 1970 B-Line Rd.

According to removal notices posted on the property, the Ontario SPCA planned to seize at least 53 head of sheep -- "various ages, males and females." The animals had roamed in a large field near the front of the property. Some sheep could still be seen in the field earlier on Thursday.

Land registry records show the property was bought by Viet Ha for $190,000 on Nov. 1, 2005. Police would not say whether they had spoken to the landowner, but continue to investigate the case and seek "persons of interest." Neighbours have said a corn crop was also grown on the farm last year before being plowed under without apparently being harvested.


A farm along B Line Road near Pembroke was recently raided by the O.P.P. where they seized a large amount of marijuana worth an estimated $40 million on the street. This is an aerial photo of the farm.
Wayne Cuddington, The Ottawa Citizen


News Hawk: User: http://www.420magazine.com/
Source: Canada.com
Author: Neco Cockburn
Copyright: 2008 The Ottawa Citizen
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Website: Inside Canada's biggest pot bust