Pubdate: Tue, 12 Sep 2006 Source: Lindsay Daily Post (CN ON) Copyright: 2006 Lindsay Daily Post Contact: http://www.thepost.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2333 Author: Jason Bain Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Marijuana - Canada) ARMED SUSPECT AT $2M GROW OP Provincial police called out the big guns when they found an armed suspect at a $2-million marijuana grow operation south of Bobcaygeon Monday morning. An OPP helicopter circled repeatedly overhead as several of the force's special units were called to a property on the east side of Pigeon Lake Road north of Peller Court around 8:30 a.m. Executing a drug search warrant on the property, officers had found about 2,000 marijuana plants and a gun-toting suspect who would remain the target of their search throughout the day. No one had been arrested at press time. A perimeter was set up around the property as police looked for the suspect and any others in the area, which sits just north of the upscale Pigeon Lake subdivision Rolling Hills. Residents there were told to stay in their houses, media relations officer Const. Mark Boileau said at the scene. Residents not absolutely having to get in through Peller Court were asked not to do so by an officer at the community entrance. Media were not allowed in either. Before it was confirmed that an armed suspect had been spotted, Boileau said the special units were called in because the situation "dictated" such a response. "Obviously there is a concern for officer safety," he told reporters. The warrant was executed by the Kawartha Combined Forces Drug Unit before the OPP Tactics and Rescue Unit, Emergency Response Team, canine unit and the OPP helicopter were summoned. Police vehicles lined Pigeon Lake Road, some with several officers holding posts along the property perimeter. The $2 million estimated value of the grow operation comes from the commonly-used formula that puts the street value of each plant at about $1,000. Monday's was the third large marijuana seizure in the Kawartha Lakes in four days. On Friday, another smaller operation was found in the same area and a "large amount" was confiscated from a vehicle stopped by police on Kawartha Lakes 121, Boileau said. A truck had been spotted pulling all-terrain vehicles out of the bush. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake