Pubdate: Thu, 29 Oct 2009 Source: Recorder & Times, The (CN ON) Page: Front Page Copyright: 2009 Recorder and Times Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/kR0Q3nSw Website: http://www.recorder.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2216 Author: Nick Gardiner Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Marijuana - Canada) AREA POT CROPS KEEP OPP HARVESTERS BUSY Eastern Ontario was the source of nearly one-quarter of the 118,443 marijuana plants seized across the province during an eight-week eradication campaign conducted by Ontario Provincial Police. "We have lot of fertile area and we'll have to combat this for years to come," regional OPP spokesman Sgt. Kristine Rae told The Recorder and Times on Wednesday. Rae was responding to questions about the OPP's annual provincewide eradication campaign that coincides with the harvest of the pot plants in late summer and early autumn. Investigations into 220 grow operations resulted in 110 charges against 56 people across the province. Rae didn't have a breakdown of specific numbers for Leeds and Grenville investigations, which would fall under either Kingston or Ottawa area drug units depending on the location. "Sometimes, there is crossover," she said. She said Ottawa-area investigations led to the seizure of 10,828 plants from 14 growing operations and 10 Criminal Code charges laid against six people. Meanwhile, Kingston-area investigations resulted in the seizure of 27,624 plants from 50 grow-ops and 40 drug charges laid against 20 people. Rae said the eastern Ontario seizures do not include two major drug busts in this region last month - one near Merrickville and the other near Delta. The Delta-area raid Sept. 21 by Leeds OPP led to the seizure of 9,100 plants and 3,400 pounds of harvested marijuana valued at almost $16 million. Twelve people from Toronto were charged in connection with the investigation which Rae described at the time as one of the largest seizures ever in this area. The bust came one day after Grenville OPP seized 10,500 plants valued at $10.5 million near Merrickville. Both of those busts were separate investigations outside of the eradication campaign, said Rae. She said it goes to prove "there's even more (marijuana) out there" than is found by police. Another worrisome matter is the increasing involvement of organized crime in the grow operations reflected across the province and evident locally, said Rae. She said the police receive great support from the public in their investigations of grow-ops. "We get a lot of tips from the community and we hope that continues." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake