On Friday 22 June 2001, some 70 officers from local police, the RCMP, the OPP and Hamilton, Guelph and Peel forces raided 17 homes, ten of them in Kitchener-Waterloo and the rest in Guelph and the Toronto area, seizing almost 2,000 marijuana plants.[1][2] Police called the six-month sting Operation Project Greenhouse and arrested 23 people they described as an organised group growing in a similar, elaborate style.[1] Two of those arrested were serving conditional sentences in British Columbia on similar charges before starting home operations in Ontario.[1]
The grows sat mostly in the basements of suburban homes, with some growers using bedrooms as drying rooms and bypassing their hydro meters to feed high-wattage bulbs, umbrella-shaped reflectors and floor fans.[1] Couples lived with their children in some of the houses while others were used only for growing.[1] Officers also seized $102,000 in cash, US$1,500 and $120,000 in growing equipment and jewellery, including rings, a pearl necklace and Rolex watches.[1]
A family case
Nine members of the Tran family, headed by 56-year-old patriarch Ba Thuan Tran with his wife, six children and two sons-in-law, faced drug and conspiracy charges from the investigation and were still before a Kitchener court in September 2002.[2] Their lawyer sought to have the charges thrown out over trial delays, after the case spent 15 months in the courts with a 60-day preliminary hearing possibly still a year away.[2] Separately, a 21-year-old Kitchener man had already received an 18-month conditional sentence for an indoor growing operation.[1]
