POLICE STUMBLE ON RECORD POT SEIZURE

MONTREAL (CP) - Local police say a routine break-and-enter call Sunday led
them to the biggest marijuana seizure in their history.

"When we went to check on a break-in call at a warehouse, we found a large
greenhouse full of hydroponic marijuana - the largest amount ever seized by
the Montreal police," said Const. Caroline Courteau.

Officers seized 15,000 plants and arrested a 54-year-old man upon entering
the warehouse on St-Laurent Boulevard.

A passer-by called police at 4:15 a.m. when he saw the glass door of the
warehouse smashed in.

Police ran up the steps to the second floor and found rows upon rows of
marijuana plants in various stages of growth.

Significant dust had collected in the room, leading investigators to
believe the growers had been at it for some time.

Police estimated that if the growers had been at the warehouse for 12
months, they would have cultivated six mature crops of marijuana bud. Each
crop could bring in $100 million, meaning the growers could have raked in
more than half-a-billion dollars in one year.

That kind of money leaves no doubt in investigators' minds that criminal
biker gangs are behind the operation.

"For the bikers, this is little investment for a lot of profit," said
Lt.-Det. Andre Bergeron of the Montreal police drug squad.

"To get rid of this crop takes some resources. This potent pot was
definitely set for export. The Americans want it."

United States border-patrol officials say dope-smuggling from Canada has
soared 10 times in the past two years alone.

The owner of the warehouse has leased the property to one person and said
Sunday he didn't know about the growing operation.

In fact, he said, he was set to give the individual a break on his rent
because he thought the business was doing poorly.

Hydroponic pot is grown using water and nutrients instead of soil. The
growing process can yield potent marijuana.

Quebec law-enforcement officials claim Quebec pot is so potent that it is
being traded on par with cocaine at the U.S. border.

Marijuana advocates, however, dismiss this as nonsense, pointing out that
the going price for cocaine is $3000 U.S. an ounce. The highest-quality
pot, by contrast, costs $500 U.S.

But there is no doubt that marijuana production in Quebec is flourishing.

"We estimate there are hundreds of other indoor-growing operations in the
Montreal area," said Montreal police Lieut. Jean Paradis, the man in charge
of all drug busts on the island.

"As big as this one, though? We don't know."