A 63-year-old man has been charged after police raided a legal marijuana grow-op in Port Colborne, Ont. for the second time in six months and found thousands of additional plants being illegally grown.
Niagara Regional Police responded to a robbery in progress at 462 Pinecrest Rd. just before 4 a.m. Sept. 19, 2016.
Police, K-9 and Emergency Task Unit officers responded to the scene with the help of Ontario Provincial Police and the Erie County Sherriff’s Department helicopter.
READ MORE: Police raid legal medical marijuana grow-op in Ontario, find 3,000 illegal plants
The NRPS Guns, Gangs, and Grow Unit attended the scene to help with the investigation and determined that the grower had three Health Canada licenses to produce medical marijuana, but suspected there was a large quantity of plants being grown unlawfully.
The grow-op was then raided the following day after a search warrant was executed and police discovered close to 3,400 marijuana plants growing — almost 3,000 more than were legally allowed.
On Thursday, police said they executed a second search warrant at the same house on March 23 and seized a total of 2,093 marijuana plants, which amounted to an additional 1,605 illegal plants.
READ MORE: 5 arrested after legal medical marijuana grow op robbed in Ontario
Peter Muileboom of Port Colborne was arrested and charged with unlawful production of a controlled substance. He was released from custody with a future court date in May.
On Wednesday, police raided an address in Brampton connected to the investigation but no information was provided on what, if any, drugs were seized.
Craig Ferguson, 65, surrendered to police and was charged with two counts of possession of controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking and two counts of unlawful production of a controlled substance related to the raids on Sept. 20, 2016 and March 23.
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Police said the investigation is still ongoing and there is a possibility that more arrests and charge could be announced in the future in connection to the grow-op.
Anyone with any information on this incident is being asked to contact the Niagara Regional Police Service at 905-688-4111 ext. 3300.
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