It's been two years since marijuana was legalized in this country.
That was supposed to put an end to illegal grow ops, and slow down the black market. But they still appear to be going strong.
Provincial Police have revealed details of a bust where nearly 200 people were arrested and 122,000 plants seized.
52 search warrants were executed at various sites across the province, with police saying many of these operations set up on fertile farm grounds or in existing greenhouses.
What makes this extra interesting, is that some did have a licence to produce medicinal marijuana, and either exceeded that limit, or just steered the product towards the black market either in Ontario or in the United States.
OPP
"What we found is that the cannabis goes down to the Uniter States and sometimes US currency comes back in exchange," says Detective Inspector Jim Walker from the OPP. "A lot of times it's coming back in the form or harder drugs, or we're seeing it come back in the form of firearms."
Sort of a guns-for-drugs trade.
OPP
Walker wouldn't say how he believes the drugs and guns are being smuggled back and forth across the border, but admits border crossings have been open to commercial traffic throughout the pandemic.
Proof is the number of guns seized in the raids; 36. Some of those are the assault style rifles that have been banned in Canada.
The total value of the bust is believed to be around $143 million.
OPP