Charges are recommended against three Port Alberni residents after RCMP seized $70,000 worth of marijuana in a grow–op bust.
Charges of production of marijuana and possession for the purpose of trafficking are recommended against two adult males and one adult female, one of whom is the property owner.
Police are also considering a charge of theft of electricity.
A fourth person present when operation was taken down is a US citizen and has been turned over to immigration services for deportation.
Officers from Port Alberni’s special investigative section executed a search warrant on a rural Beaver Creek property on the morning of June 23.
According to Const. Clive Seabrook, police found 804 marijuana plants ready for harvest with an estimated value of $60,000.
They also found 5.6 pounds of clipped and bagged marijuana bud with a value of $10,000.
The operation was bigger than the average compared to other grow-op busts in Port Alberni.
But it’s not as big as the one taken down on Swanson Road in the spring that yielded 5,000 plants, Seabrook said.
reporter@albernivalleynews.com