Despite the legalization of Cannabis in Canada with the proliferation of stores in virtually every strip mall, the black market is still flourishing. The size of the underground market was on display when OPP arrested six people and seized more than 15,000 cannabis plants during a bust of an illicit cannabis production facility in Niagara Falls.
Policed say the potential street value of the plants is approximately $8 million.
The investigation, led by the Provincial Joint Forces Cannabis Enforcement Team (PJFCET), began when police became aware of a strong cannabis odour coming from what looked like an abandoned warehouse on Don Murie Street, an industrial area in the south end of Niagara Falls. Police raided the place on April 17.
More than 2,500 clone cannabis plants and more than 13,000 vegetative and mature budding cannabis plants were seized, the OPP said.
Five people of no fixed addresses, aged 31, 41, 49, 58, 59, and a 66-year-old from Markham, were each charged with production – cultivate cannabis without authorization, which falls under the Cannabis Act.
The investigation, which remains ongoing, was supported by the OPP’s West Region Emergency Response Team, Urban Search and Rescue, Chemical, Biological, Radioactive, Nuclear and Explosive Response Team, and the Provincial Asset Forfeiture Unit, as well as Niagara Regional Police.
Anyone with any information about the production of unauthorized or illegal cannabis is asked to call OPP at 1-888-310-1122, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), or online at ontariocrimestoppers.ca.
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