Source: Ottawa Sun
Contact:  http://www.canoe.ca/OttawaSun/home.htm
Pubdate: Fri, 20 Feb 1998

2 BUSTED FOR $60M POT PLOT

Drug investigators have smashed a hydroponic dope  operation near Alfred
capable of producing more than $60  million worth of pot a year.

Two men face a variety of drug charges after a raid  yesterday, the
culmination of a three-month investigation  targeting Eastern Ontario
marijuana growers. Cops seized  1,400 pot plants with an estimated street
value of more than  $4 million.

Sgt. Dave Dauphny of the RCMP said the lab was the "most sophisticated"
narcs have seen in this part of the country, with  the equipment alone
valued at more than $100,000.

"This was not a penny-ante thing, and it really shows the  scope of the
operation," Dauphny said. "This really is the  wave of the future. These
guys are providing grass all year  round."

A 44-year-old resident of the house and a 45-year-old male  from Laplaine,
Que., have been charged with trafficking of a  controlled substance,
cultivation of marijuana and possession  for the purpose of trafficking.

They had a show cause hearing yesterday afternoon.