Police have seized five pounds of pot, 400 marijuana plants, growing equipment and cash after searching a Sturgeon County property this week.
St. Albert RCMP say the amount of pot being grown could have produced hundreds of thousands of joints, which could have had a significant impact.
Insp. Ken Foster said in a release he was concerned about the large amount of pot seized, noting it’s indicative of a criminal trafficking operation rather than someone growing for personal use.
“If these drugs were not seized, they would have impacted the well-being of our residents and our children in Morinville, Sturgeon County, St. Albert and throughout the Edmonton region,” he said.
Cpl. Laurel Kading said police wanted to make clear this was a commercial operation rather than anything personal or medicinal, emphasizing the danger associated with this kind of unregulated operation.
“A concern raised to me by one of our experts is there aren’t any controls around those kinds of operations,” she said. “You don’t know if stuff has been added to make the plant grow differently, or could potentially be health hazards growing plants.”
Officers from several agencies worked together on the bust: St. Albert RCMP, Morinville RCMP, Fort Saskatchewan RCMP, and the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams. The Edmonton Police helicopter helped survey the scene during the search for officer safety.
A man, 36 and a woman, 28, have been charged with producing a controlled substance, possessing a controlled substance with the intent to traffic, and child endangerment. Police are not releasing their names to protect the identity of the children.
Child and Family Services is also involved, as two preschool-aged children were present. Kading said the endangerment charges police laid were strictly related to the presence of the grow operation, and that Child and Family Services would investigate to determine if there was any further concern.
Kading said this investigation is not related to a recent similar drug bust, which took place June 30 near Villeneuve Road and Range Road 255.
