Pubdate: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 Source: Huntsville Forester, The (CN ON) Copyright: 2002 The Huntsville Forester Contact: http://www.huntsvilleforester.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2430 Author: Bruce Hickey INDOOR POT-FARMING TREND PUSHES INTO COTTAGE COUNTRY Police continue hunting for the people who stole hydro to power an indoor marijuana farm set up in the basement of a Lone Pine Drive house. Last Thursday's drug bust marks the advancement of a trend which sees sophisticated, indoor pot growing operations creeping into cottage country, say police. Officers with the Muskoka OPP Crime Unit and the Huronia Combined Forces Drug Unit stormed into a white-paneled bungalow about 8:30 a.m Thursday. The house, number 2250, is located between Huntsville and Bracebridge near Stephenson Road 1. Police were immediately struck by the pungent odour of pot plants growing at various stages in a downstairs hydroponic lab. By noon, a mixture of plain clothed and uniformed officers had removed 1,194 healthy pot plants from inside. Detective Sergeant James Clotka estimated the value of the drugs to be about a half million dollars. Evidence was also uncovered at the scene of hydro electric power being stolen to fuel the operation. A series of lights, large reflectors that looked like satellite dishes, and an assortment of ballasts were carried out of the house. In all, about $66,000 in growing equipment was seized as evidence by the OPP. "We have found considerable unsafe wiring. They have dug into the ground and tapped ahead of the meter. They were stealing power from Hydro One, which of course is raising your bill and mine," said area electrical inspector Rick Allan. "There are shock hazards all through the house." Charges could be laid under the Electrical Safety Act of Ontario. The culprits could face a maximum fine of $5,000 for wiring without permits and connecting without inspection. Evidence to date points to the house being used strictly for the purposes of growing pot. "The last thing that the growers want to do is bring attention to themselves by having people coming in and out of the home to buy drugs. Something like this would have been strictly used to grow the marijuana," said Clotka. "It would take someone with a lot of knowledge, a professional, to do something like this up. This is not a small "mom and pop" type of grow." Investigators were led to the house thanks to information provided by the public and police surveillance carried out prior to the search warrant being executed. Clotka said nobody was inside the home at the time police entered. There were sparse furnishings inside. It is suspected the growers would frequent the house at least once or twice a month to tend to their crop and then leave. "Unfortunately these types of grows are becoming quite common. This is the first one I have seen this far north. It appears that the this trend is working its way up from Toronto," said Clotka. "It is hitting the bigger towns like Barrie and moving to the smaller communities." Growers are leaning toward the indoor operations, according to Clotka, because they cannot be detected by chopper fly-overs. A higher quality product can also be farmed because there is more light and nutrient control with an indoor operation. Clotka said the investigation was looking into the owner of the Lone Pine Drive home and the possibility that it could have been rented. Police were yet to reveal any suspects as of Monday afternoon. - --- MAP posted-by: Alex