An illicit marijuana grow-op at a home in the city’s northeast has been shut down and police say the plants have an estimated street value of $1.38 million.
Police executed a search warrant on a home in the 100 block of Bedfield Court N.E. on Friday and found a large-scale grow-op inside the residence.
“Through tips from the public, we ended up locating a pretty substantial cannabis grow,” said Staff Sgt. Kyle Grant, of the CPS Strategic Enforcement Unit.
Equipment worth about $20,000 and 1100 plants were seized from the home.
Police say the structure was altered and that the electrical, HVAC and plumbing were also modified to accommodate the grow-op.
“There was a very large fear that the house could start on fire due to the amount of electricity that was drawing. Alberta Health Services attended and ended up condemning the home,” said Grant. “Everywhere in the house was used for this grow. There was no, any sort of living space. The house was converted into just one big, hydroponic grow operation.”
Cannabis is legal for recreational use in Canada and Calgarians are permitted to grow up to four cannabis plants under federal and provincial legislation.
“We’re cognizant of the fact that it’s legal. You can have four plants per household, that is legal for you, but we don’t want to hear from the public on these large-scale grows because at the end of the day they’re dangerous and we need to make sure we’re protecting the people and the property around them,” said Grant.
Retail outlets in Alberta are regulated and supplied by the AGLC but Grant says illicit grow-ops continue to pop up and police are prepared for an influx of tips from the public about illegal operations.
“There’s a number of grows at any given time within in the city but this one is different because it’s the first one done under the Cannabis Act but usually, most grows have some sort of living component to them, whereas this place having 1100 plants, very substantial,” he said. “It’s not a professional operation, didn’t have the same checks and balances. Part of our investigation is to check and see if it did have a valid licence for medical marijuana, which it did not. Everything was done ad hoc just for profit.”
The home has been deemed uninhabitable and dangerous to the public and signs and a fence have been put up around the property.
Police say that no one was home when the warrant was executed.
The investigation is ongoing and police have not made any arrests at this time.
