OPP haul early harvest
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Posted By TEVIAH MORO, PACKET AND TIMES
Posted 1 month ago
What they saw was alarming, and apparently, a little out of season.
An OPP helicopter swooped down from the skies to deliver a big net of marijuana to officers on the ground, who loaded the crop into a van parked at a peaceful sideroad in Severn Township.
"This is what we came home to," a resident who lives in the area said on Tuesday after witnessing the apparent drug-eradication effort. "We're like, 'OK, what's going on?'"
OPP couldn't provide any details about the operation nor confirm it on Tuesday afternoon.
But Sgt. Paul Difonte of the OPP's Central Region noted marijuana eradication usually takes place in the fall.
"It could be early this year because of the weather," Difonte noted.
When asked, Difonte ruled out a training exercise.
The husband and wife who spotted the helicopter, an unmarked van and heavily armed officers requested anonymity out of security concerns for their young son.
The area is a tight-knit community of farmers where neighbours knock on doors to take up collections when people die or call each other when they see an ambulance zoom by.
The couple, who have lived in the area for more than a decade, said they've heard of at least one other drug bust in the past.
"This is an ongoing thing out there," said the woman, who acknowledged she was frazzled about the police operation.
Friends have told her, "Don't go wandering off and snooping, and you'll be fine."
In general, if someone stumbles across a marijuana grow-op, the best thing to do is leave and call police, Difonte said.
"Don't confront anybody."
tmoro@orilliapacket.com
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