Pubdate: Wed, 07 Sep 2005
Source: Sun Times, The (Owen Sound, CN ON)
Copyright: 2005, Osprey Media Group Inc.
Contact:  http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1544
Author: Scott Dunn
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n642/a10.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)

$7-MILLION POT BUST

OPP commander also sounds off about recent court ruling which he said
'rocked our world'

Grey County OPP officers seized hundreds of kilograms of marijuana
worth about $7 million which they found stuffed in two vans at a
drunk-driving spot check in Flesherton about 2:30 a.m Tuesday.

Police issued a warning a couple hours later for people to avoid
hitchhikers, ensure their homes and vehicles are secure and report any
suspicious activity because the person or people in one of the vans
got away. They had not been caught by late Tuesday afternoon. Police
had no descriptions to go on.

Police showed off 39 jumbo-sized garbage bags full of fresh, rank
smelling marijuana plants. Two rented Dodge Caravans, one silver and
the other red, had been filled with the drugs, which weighed 694.5
kilograms (1,562 pounds), police said at a noon hour news briefing at
the Grey County OPP detachment in Chatsworth.

Insp. Mark Van Landuyt said he will be recommending commendations for
the officers, who had just begun conducting RIDE checks at the
intersection of Grey Rd. 4 and Highway 10 in Flesherton when the
eastbound vans approached.

Van Landuyt, the detachment commander, also took the opportunity of
the media briefing to sound off about a recent judge's ruling which he
said "rocked our world."

He was referring to Justice Julia Morneau's decision in July to throw
out evidence in a similar case where police discovered $400,000 worth
of marijuana in two vehicles.

She ruled the evidence was inadmissible because police had no legal
authority to stop the cars.

She found they stopped the cars on the pretext of a drunk-driving
check, but there was no evidence the officers asked about drinking.
That violated the men's constitutional rights and so the case was dismissed.

Morneau was particularly critical of one officer's testimony that he
stops virtually every car he sees late at night, especially after 3
a.m. on weekends.

Van Landuyt said he thinks drivers in both cases were stopped legally
and stressed "the importance of the police officers' need and legal
authority to stop motor vehicles."

He said the court ruling "was inconsistent with the beliefs of law
enforcement, the understanding of law enforcement and the intention of
the law."

He raised a question about why drug busts have become "all too common"
locally.

"Have the recent court decisions painted an open invitation to drug
traffickers to produce their product in Grey and Bruce counties? They
certainly haven't been a deterrent."

He said the majority of major drug busts in this area involve someone
from outside the area.

Const. Jim Hunter ran the RIDE check Tuesday morning. He told
reporters at the news briefing the silver van stopped ahead of the
spot check. Twice he motioned for the driver to approach, but the van
didn't move. He approached the van, smelled marijuana and saw
drug-growing equipment inside. The two men inside looked "very
nervous," he said.

Meanwhile, the red van drove behind a grocery store and Hunter
directed his partner, Const. Paul Nixon, to check it out. The driver
and whoever else, if anyone, in the vehicle ran off. Police couldn't
find them despite efforts of a police tracking dog they called in.

Police got a search warrant before checking the interior of the vans,
which later were parked behind the police detachment and displayed
with the bags of marijuana and electric fans for reporters to see.

Hunter said he recognized the marijuana was grown outside. Sr. Const.
Steve Starr said police don't yet know exactly where it was grown and
he hoped people who recognized the vans would contact police or call
an anonymous tips into Crime Stoppers.

Hunter told reporters he didn't receive a tip that drugs were being
transported that night but it's not uncommon for drugs to be shipped
at that time of day.

Van Landuyt said the recent court decision has been demoralizing for
his officers who, he says, are questioning their role.

"We as police officers, in order to protect and preserve the peace,
are being questioned and accused of operating unlawfully. The question
is why do we bother? It's fortunate the Grey County detachment have
officers with high morals and excellent work ethic."

He said officers are asking "why do they risk their safety and their
lives for a system that does not appear to be operating on the same
page?"

Shui Kwong Ho, 37, and Jie-Xing Chen, 34, both of Scarborough, are
each charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of
trafficking. Ho was charged also with three counts of failing to
comply with release conditions.

Both were in custody and were to appear in bail court this morning.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin