Pot Bust Baffles Cops
Ont. Molson brewery site of major pot bustThe former Molson brewery in Barrie, Ont., plainly visible from Highway 400, one of the province's busiest commuter routes, was raided on the weekend by some 100 city and provincial police officers acting on a tip. Inside, police found marijuana with what they said had an estimated street value of $30 million, along with a grow operation of staggering proportions - the largest and most sophisticated in modern Canadian history.
"This is not a ma-and-pa operation," Barrie police Chief Wayne Frechette wryly told a news conference in this central Ontario city an hour's drive north of Toronto.
Across a 5,400-square metre complex the size of a football field, police found more than 25,000 pot plants growing everywhere - even inside the cavernous indoor vats once used to brew beer.
Barrie pot haul called biggest ever foundOver 100 police officers moved on the operation shortly after midnight Friday.
The building is 125,000 square feet and three stories high. Police won't say how much of the plant the operation covers, but they will say it's massive.
Here's a link that lists several pictures from the Molson plant and lots more news articles that you can read about the subject."This particular marijuana factory is the most sophisticated found in Canada, using 60,000 square feet. It took two days to clear the building, and it will take weeks to dismantle it," Collins said.
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The plant was staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, police speculate. One portion of the facility had been converted to a dormitory, complete with beds, microwave ovens, refrigerators and televisions.
An estimated $30 million in marijuana plants was found, plus a variety of equipment, likely worth millions of dollars as well. More than 1,000 hydroponic lights were used to provide artificial illumination.
There was a significant amount of specialized electrical apparatus installed, too. Three or four crops a year could be harvested from the operation, Collins said, yielding an estimated $100 million in annual revenues.
This was pretty big news where I live as Barrie isn't too far away. I don't think that this news made it very far into the US or even Europe for that matter, so I thought some of you would be interested about this subject.
More pictures...
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Now let us all celebrate with a footstomping singing of the Canadian National Anthem!
Oh, Cana... uhh... :confused2:
I've posted this elsewhere as well, but I'm sure most of you haven't seen this yet and since cannabis is being mentioned in other threads why not post this here as well?
