CHESTERMERE – When a landlord stopped by his rental property in West Lakeview Place on Sunday, Dec. 18 to do a scheduled inspection, he was surprised to find that the locks had been changed on the residence.
After determining that no one was home, the landlord called for members of the Chestermere RCMP to be present when gaining entry to the home. Once insides, he discovered numerous marihuana plants in the basement.
This residence was then sealed off by officers, and the scene was maintained until additional members of the RCMP could obtain a search warrant under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
The search warrant was granted and executed at 10:30 p.m. with the assistance of the joint forces Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) Calgary based Green Team South.
Inside the residence there were over 200 marihuana plants with a street value in excess of $250,000.
It appeared the persons renting the residence were in the process of transforming the basement into a marihuana grow op, as it was under significant construction.
The electrical system had been altered to support the increased power consumption, and the water system was also bypassed to avoid detection of increased usage.
The completed basement was damaged by the process of removing carpet, hanging high intensity lights, adding vents, adding a significant amount of electrical rewiring and adding makeshift walls to section off the basement into different growing areas.
The structural integrity of the residence had not yet been determined by Alberta Health Services at press time.
If anyone has any information in this crime or any other please contact the Chestermere RCMP at 403-204-8777 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or through the internet at www.tipsubmit.com. Crime stoppers will pay cash rewards up to $2,000 for information that leads to an arrest, the recovery of stolen property or seizure of illegal drugs. Crime Stoppers does not subscribe to call display and the identity of the caller will remain anonymous.
