OPP BUSTING ORGANIZED CRIME GROW-OPS

   The September 21st cannabis bust (pictured right) on Rowena Road north east of Iroquois was part of a much larger organized crime take-down by the Ontario Provincial Police this fall.
   Between July 1st and October 15th, various units within the OPP including the Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau seized over $143 million in cannabis across the province after investigators executed 52 warrants and arrested 195 people.
   Police say several criminal enterprises were exploiting Health Canada registrations for medical, personal, and designated cannabis production. Cannabis was authorized to be produced for medical purposes, but then diverted into the illegal market. “Organized crime is firmly entrenched in the production, distribution and sale of illegal cannabis,” said detective inspector Jim Walker with the OPP’s OCEB. “These criminals continue to exploit the Health Canada medical cannabis personal and designate production regime by diverting the cannabis to the illegal market.”