$280,000 in Drugs Seized in Grow-Op Bust
SPRUCE GROVE, AB – RCMP Crime Report – A Grow-op has been shut down in Alberta. The bust came as a result of an operation by the Spruce Grove/Stony Plain RCMP Drug section and Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team’s (ALERT) Green Team North.
The units worked together to gather information relating to a grow operation in the Rich Valley area North-west of Onoway. With assistance from the RCMP Emergency Response Team, a search warrant was executed at the residence on January 28th.
Members discovered a grow operation with 228 plants. The grow-operation was contained to a Quonset hut on the property and based on the condition of the electrical wiring and presence of mould, police believe it had been operating for some time.
The equipment utilized was very sophisticated, including a costly watering and ventilation system.
Two people were arrested and in addition to marihuana plants, police seized more than one kilogram of dried marihuana, 200-plus pills (including Oxycontin), and four firearms. The total value of the drugs and plants seized is estimated at $280,000.
55 year-old Randy Blake Wiebe and 61 year-old Carol Eve Letendre, both of Lac Ste. Anne County, are both charged with:
- Production of a controlled substance (marihuana)
- Possession for the purpose of trafficking (x 2) (oxycodone and marihuana)
- Possession of a controlled substance
- Unsafe storage of a firearm (x 4)
Randy Wiebe is also charged with possession of property obtained by crime (approximately $2000.00 cash).
Carol Letendre is also charged with operation of a motor vehicle while disqualified.
Both were released from custody and will be appearing in Stony Plain Provincial Court on March 5th, 2014.
To report suspicious activity or a suspected marihuana grow operation in your community, contact police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS). For information on how to spot a marihuana grow operation, visit www.alert-ab.ca/growops.
