It's harvest season for illegal grow-ops in Chatham-Kent -- but this time, local police officers are the ones pulling the plants.
Since the start of the year, Chatham-Kent police have shut down three illegal marijuana grow operations, seizing an estimated $18 million dollars worth of illegal plants.
Police said the first of the three operations was found when officers with the service's Intelligence Unit executed a search warrant at a property on Richmond Street in Chatham on January 8, 2021. At that time, officers seized a little more than 9,000 illegal plans with an estimated street value of $9 million along with a large amount of Canadian cash.
A 34-year-old Markham man and a 68-year-old Stouffville man were both arrested inside the building and charged with cultivating and possession of cannabis for the purposes of selling. A summons has also been issued for a 58-year-old Markham man for the same offences.
A second illegal illegal grow op was busted on the same day -- January 8, 2021 -- on Grand Avenue East in Chatham.
Police said they learned about that operation after emergency crews were called to the building for a fire. Officers said they then obtained and executed a warrant and seized 489 illegal plants with an estimated street value of $489,000.
As a result of that investigation, a summons has been issued for a 62-year-old Kitchener woman for cultivating and possession of cannabis for the purposes of selling.
The third grow op was busted on January 15, 2021 at another property on Richmond Street in Chatham.
Police said they executed a search warrant there and seized 8580 illegal marijuana plants with an estimated total street value of $8.6 million. Officers said a 52-year-old Markham woman, a 46-year-old Markham man, a 26-year-old Scarborough man, a 26-year-old North York man, and a 24-year-old Oshawa man were all found hiding inside the building.
They were all arrested and charged with cultivating and possession of cannabis for the purposes of selling and were all later released pending a future court date.
"This past year, a significant amount of cannabis associated to illegal drug operations has been found in Chatham-Kent," said Chief Gary Conn. "These operations will not be tolerated here in our community as we know their actions may lead to violent behaviour, property crimes and organized crime. Our officers, have and will continue to investigate reports of illegal drug activity to ensure the safety of everyone here in our community."
The three busts in January followed another significant investigation that took down an illegal $7.3 million grow op at a greenhouse facility on Maynard Line in September 2020. A summons has been issued for a 48-year-old London man in connection with that case.
Chatham-Kent police said by seizing the marijuana plants and shutting down the operations, they have removed the illegal cannabis from the streets and kept it "out of the hands of our youth."
A release from the police force said officers are not targeting those who grow cannabis legally for their own personal use or storefronts that have legally obtained a permit. Instead, they are focusing on cutting off the illegal supply in order to "reduce the criminality that results from these lucrative criminal networks."
Police said the goal is to locate and dismantle the illegal production sites in order to protect the community from the dangers that come with the illegal cannabis industry, which may include violent criminal activity, human trafficking, and public health and safety concerns because the facilities and the products are not regulated or inspected by Health Canada.
Officers are also encouraging anyone who sees suspicious activity to call the local police force at 519-352-1234 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).