The Associated Press
PETERBOROUGH, Canada (CP) - An errant basset hound and the Good Samaritan who tried to return the dog to its owner helped police uncover a marijuana grow operation in central Ontario that resulted in the seizure of 12,000 plants.
“This is one of the larger ones we’ve seen this year,” Det.-Supt. Jim Miller of the Ontario Provincial Police’s drug enforcement section said Friday.
Five armed members of the Kawartha combined forces drug unit descended on the farmhouse near the village of Woodview, about 50 kilometres northeast of Peterborough earlier this week.
Police said officers found a man in a cornfield tending marijuana that had been planted amongst the corn.
They also discovered 12,000 marijuana plants, a pellet pistol, a pellet rifle and a knife during their investigation.
Police were led to the farmhouse thanks to a tip from Vincent Dicks.
A few weeks earlier, a dog had walked up to Dicks’ house.
Dicks said he didn’t know who owned the hound and decided to take care of it while he tried to locate the owner.
“I put up signs and pictures but no one called,” Dicks said.
He said was later told that the dog’s owners lived in the farmhouse across the street.
But when he met the owner at the laneway to the farm, he noticed something was amiss.
“It seemed really, really funny,” said Dicks, who later called police to report his concerns. “You could smell it. It was a skunky smell.”
Miller said it appeared the farm was being rented, and the marijuana was a few weeks away from being harvested.
Ten officers from a number of units were called in to help remove the plants, which required two pickup trucks and more than a day of work.
Dicks said he may keep the basset hound and would name the dog Clancy.
Yan Ton Leung, 36, was charged with production of a controlled substance, possession for the purpose of trafficking and proceeds of crime.