Police made one of Alberta’s largest illegal cannabis busts in Stettler, last week.
Authorities seized an estimated $4 million in plants through a joint operation between the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT), the Calgary police and Stettler RCMP.
“This was a very large-scale operation that would have provided significant funding towards organized crime,” said Sgt. Keith Hurley.
After a suspicious persons report, police found a cannabis grow operation inside of a barn, powered by an industrial generator.
53-year-old Kin Wa Au Yeung and 35-year-old Dan Wang are both facing trafficking and illegal production charges. Neither had a Health Canada cannabis production license.
“This isn’t medical marijuana that’s being used for medical purposes, this is recreational-use marijuana,” said Hurley.
Officers also discovered a pair of pick-up trucks with hidden compartments for transporting the cannabis.
The bust is in the top five of outdoor cannabis grow operations in Alberta. The largest was in 2010, when 3,854 plants were seized near Drumheller.