SUDBURY -- Sudbury police have seized $2 million worth of cannabis from a large grow operation and extraction lab in Chelmsford, Ont., and have charged three people.
Despite the legalization of cannabis in Canada, laws and regulations surrounding production, distribution and sale remain.
Greater Sudbury Police Service said it received a tip in August about an extensive outdoor operation. A joint investigation between the local drug enforcement unit and the provincial police organized crime enforcement bureau revealed the location in the community of Chelmsford.
A search of the property began on Sept. 1 and over two days, officers discovered about 1,000 unlicensed cannabis plants and a sophisticated cannabis resin, hash oil, extraction lab.
An estimate of the seizure is approximately $2 million in cannabis, $143,625 in cannabis resin extraction lab equipment, and includes:
- 1,000 cannabis plants
- 104.5 lbs. of dried cannabis
- 111 lbs. of cannabis resin – hash oil
- 22.5 lbs. suspected cannabis butter
"This extraction lab posed an obvious danger to the officers, as well as the public," police said in a news release Friday. "The OPP Urban Search and Rescue, CBRNE (Chemical/Biological/Radiological/Nuclear/Explosive) Response Team and Clandestine Laboratory Team attended along with direct assistance from City of Greater Sudbury Fire Services, the Ontario Fire Marshall, Electrical Safety Authority, Hydro One and City of Greater Sudbury By-Law Enforcement in order to safely dismantle the extraction lab."
As a result, three people have been charged with cultivation of cannabis, including a 62-year-old woman, 63-year-old man and a 31-year-old man.
Police say additional charges are likely.
The accused are scheduled to appear in court Nov. 25.
