cannabisnews.com: Brazen Grow-Op are Getting Tougher To Derail





Brazen Grow-Op are Getting Tougher To Derail
Posted by CN Staff on March 15, 2004 at 08:21:53 PT
By Linwood Barclay
Source: Toronto Star 
If you think those guys who were harvesting marijuana in the old Molson plant were brazen, or can't believe that there was a grow operation thriving in eight apartments, between floors, in Parkdale, well, that's only the beginning.Passengers on the Lakeshore GO line kept wondering why they could never get into that car second from the end. Little did they, and GO officials, realize that the double-decker passenger car had been converted into a massive grow operation several months ago.
The way it started, evidently, was that several commuters who'd been riding the same car together for years all got downsized about the same time, and came up with the idea as a way to get through a tough financial period. Because they'd met and gotten to know one another on the train, they thought it made sense to operate their new business from it."And there was more to it than that,'' said police. "They felt they had a better chance of escaping detection because their operation was always on the move, unlike a home-based operation. They were never in any one place for any length of time, except in the winter, when the switches kept freezing, and then they might have been doing their cultivating in Long Branch for the better part of an hour."GO Transit officials said they had received a few complaints from passengers saying they couldn't access the car in question, but most hadn't even bothered to board it. It may have helped, police speculate, that the growers had put notices on all doors to the car saying it was occupied entirely by parents trying to help their kids sell chocolate bars for a school fundraiser.Police figure the marijuana growers had chosen this particular passenger coach because the entire car had been transformed, through that special shrink-wrap process that seals a train or a bus from one end to the other, into a rolling billboard. This made it more difficult to look into the windows. It was only when the ad was suddenly ordered peeled off Friday that the operation was revealed. "If it hadn't been a promotion for the Mike Bullard Show," police said, "they'd probably still be in business."Producers for The National thought some CBC executives just wanted a cozier look for the set when they spotted an increasing number of plants crowding the desk of anchor Peter Mansbridge. "I hate to admit this," said one of the cameramen, "but I thought they were just ferns. Promise me you won't tell anyone I told you that."In this case, the two growers weren't even CBC employees, but folks off the street who figured there'd be a lot of good lights on a TV news set to keep their plants warm and thriving. They managed to get past security day after day, claiming they were a couple of mob informers being interviewed for a documentary, and that they had to hide behind lots of bushes to protect their identity. As soon as the plants had grown to the right height, the two said they'd be able to spill their guts."It seemed logical to us," said one producer. "Some of us even helped with the watering, we were so eager to hear their tale."You'd think running a grow operation right on Yonge St. would be just asking for trouble. Thousands of people walking by all day, maybe peering in the window, perhaps the occasional police officer coming inside.These guys were taking a huge risk, right? Turns out, they'd thought of everything. They decided to hang a sign outside that would guarantee that no one would ever knock or try to come inside and discover what they were up to. The sign read: "Official Headquarters, Dalton McGuinty Fan Club."Linwood Barclay's column appears Monday, Friday and Saturday. Newshawk: afterburnerSource: Toronto Star (CN ON)Author: Linwood BarclayPublished: March 15, 2004Copyright: 2004 The Toronto Star Contact: lettertoed thestar.com Website: http://www.thestar.com/ Related Articles & Web Site:Cannabis News Canadian Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/can.htmMarijuana Grow Ops Raise Cash for Crime http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18447.shtmlHuge Marijuana Factory Was One Strange Jointhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18131.shtmlPot Bust Worth $30 Million, Police Sayhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18130.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by Sam Adams on March 15, 2004 at 15:43:46 PT
Peter Tosh
all my good life I've been a lonely manteaching people who don't overstandand even though I've tried my bestI still dont find no happinessStop that train I'm leavingStop that train I'm leavingStop that train I'm leavingit won't be too long whether I'm right or wrongsaid it won't be too long whether I'm right or wrong
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on March 15, 2004 at 15:20:33 PT
goneposthole
Na! Is a boo hiss ok? LOL!
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Comment #1 posted by goneposthole on March 15, 2004 at 15:19:10 PT
three cheers for prohibition
hip hip hoorayhip hip hoorayhip hip hoorayCome on, join inall together now!!!hip hip hoorayhip hip hoorayhip hip hoorayCome on, join in!!!hip hip hooray hip hip hoorayhip hip hoorayAnyone?
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