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VIDEO: Nanaimo RCMP drive pot pickup

Nanaimo RCMP take truckload of product from alleged marijuana grow operation
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Police in Nanaimo grabbed at least one pickup truck load of marijuana from an alleged grow operation Thursday (April 13). (CHRIS BUSH/The News Bulletin)

Police plucked a pickup load of pot from a home in south Nanaimo today (April 13).

Their activity was centred on a home in the 100 block of Haliburton Street that allegedly contained a small marijuana grow operation.

Mounties drove away in a pickup truck filled with marijuana plants shortly after 11 a.m.

Nanaimo Fire Rescue fire prevention officers also arrived at the site to do a fire safety inspection of the house.

Const. Gary O’Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman, said police only discovered the grow operation when they responded to a commercial holdup alarm that was tripped in the house.

“They made a hard entry into the home to ensure the safety of the occupants and in doing so they came across a strong odour of marijuana and in a subsequent search of the residence they found several hundred plants of various sizes and stages,” O’Brien said.

The plants were seized and, according to police, charges are being considered against the 37-year-old homeowner, who was arrested when he returned to the house, for allegedly being in violation of his Health Canada permit, which allows him to grow up to 98 plants.

“The homeowner arrived while the members were at the home,” O’Brien said. “He was arrested at the scene. He was release without charge. B.C. Hydro was called to shut the hydro down. The fire department was called to do an inspection. The house was deemed unsafe. The house has since been barricaded by the house owner and the investigation is continuing.”



Chris Bush

About the Author: Chris Bush

As a photographer/reporter with the Nanaimo News Bulletin since 1998.
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