Wellington OPP’s Community Street Crime Unit and uniformed officers, with the OPP Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau and the Joint Forces Cannabis Enforcement Team, executed a search warrant at a commercial building at 10 Wells Street West in Arthur on the morning of 4 June 2021.[1] Officers seized over 7,000 marijuana plants and a large amount of Canadian currency.[1][2] County dump trucks hauled seized plants and growing equipment from the site, with an officer noting the transport was needed because police vehicles were too small.[1]
Four men were arrested at the scene.[1] They were later named as Engang Ex, 43, of Scarborough; Chenguang Li, 47, of Scarborough; Lifan Li, 23, of Markham; and Hai Lin, 29, of Markham, charged with growing cannabis somewhere other than their dwelling, possession for the purpose of distributing, possession for the purpose of selling, and possession of proceeds of crime over $5,000.[3] They were released to appear in Guelph court at a later date.[3]
The building had been the subject of a March rezoning application to permit indoor cannabis cultivation and a processing facility, opposed by neighbours over odour and water use; police would not say whether township staff who visited the property on 31 May were accompanied by officers.[1][3]