Waterloo Regional Police have charged three men in connection with the production and distribution of marijuana after seizures at multiple locations.
George Gobran, 40, of Kitchener, Kenneth Michael Meaney, 49, of Cambridge and Kenneth Hackborn, 48, of North Dumfries Township were arrested on Thursday.
All three are charged with production of a controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking, and police say more charges could be laid.
Over 6,100 marijuana plants, 277 pounds of packaged marijuana and 480 grams of cannabis resin with an estimated street value of over $6.6 million were seized.
Also seized was about $50,000 in equipment, ten long guns and ammunition, over $31,000 in cash, seven vehicles and a paraglider.
Waterloo Regional Police Insp. Greg Lamport says "It was an excellent tip from a member of the public who contacted us and became aware of the grow operation, or suspicious of a possible grow operation which resulted in the investigation."
The months-long investigation resulted in searches at storage units and properties in Kitchener, Cambridge, North Dumfries Township and Blandford-Blenheim Township.
Lamport says "It involved several different units within our organization and also the assistance of Ontario Provincial Police in one of the locations just outside of our region. Eight different warrants were executed between the two days and as a result the listed items…were seized."
Waterloo Regional Police Staff Sgt. Craig Ambrose says "There were three locations where we determined there were grow operations, Shoemaker [Street], North Dumfries Township and Blandford-Blenheim Township."
People who work near to the industrial unit on Shoemaker Street in Kitchener say police wore white suits and respirators, and spent about five hours in the building.
Joanne Cassidy works at ServiceMaster and witnessed the raid on Thursday morning, she adds "We've never seen anyone coming or going here. We hear people come and go at night, but we've not seen anything at all, no cars, no people, no anything. We didn't actually know anybody was in it."
Police reportedly removed about 2,100 plants from that location, along with some off-road type vehicles.
Waterloo Regional Police Supt. Gary Askin says "These types of drug production labs, they do post a significant risk to the community and we need to know about them."
Anyone with additional information is asked to contact police at 519-650-8500 Ext. 8612 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
