Cops net pot during intruder investigation
Posted By RAYMOND BOWE
Posted 24 days ago
A young couple got the fright of their life, Halloween night, when they were the target of a home invasion in north-end Barrie.
But police say the robbers knew precisely what they were looking for: officers later netted $360,000 worth of marijuana.
A 25-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman have been charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking. They were held for a bail hearing.
However, the home invaders remain at large.
City police responded to a 911 call from a neighbour just before midnight, Saturday, for an assault occurring in front of the home. It turned out to be a home invasion on Michael Crescent, off Livingstone Street between Bayfield and St. Vincent streets.
Uniformed officers spoke to the residents and learned there had been a robbery. While checking the home for suspects, police instead found a large quantity of marijuana, so the drug unit was summoned.
Cops obtained a drug search warrant and entered the home around 2 a. m. They seized in excess of 144 pounds of dried marijuana, which police say had recently been harvested from an outdoor grow-op.
"It's definitely not from within the city," said Sgt. Dave Taylor, although he said he couldn't comment further because the investigation continues.
No weapons were found inside the home, nor were there any children.
Police allege the couple was selling at the "ounce level," meaning they would be between a street-level dealer and the marijuana grower.
"The street value is tough to do," Taylor said. "We base it on an average for court purposes, but it can go for $2,500 a pound."
The sergeant explained there are strains of marijuana with higher potencies, or THC levels, which garner higher prices on the street.
"You can't tell just by looking at it," he said. "There's one called purple haze, which actually has a purple haze to it. But only the grower will know for sure. It's no different than any other fruit or vegetable -- this is absolutely no different."
Police believe the suspects recently obtained the marijuana from another person who'd harvested from another location.
"The product here is all from that," said Taylor, while peering over a table filled with large bags of seized marijuana.
Drug officers, who were inside the home for four hours, found weed virtually everywhere, including garbage bags and plastic containers.
"It was all over," Taylor said, adding it was found on all three levels of the home as it was being packaged and prepared for resale.
Police also seized $1,600 in cash, along with packing materials, vacuum sealers and baggies.
The robbers -- whom Taylor said were briefly inside the home -- left with only a small amount of marijuana compared to what was found.
Authorities allege the home invaders targeted the home in search of dope.
"Based on the amount of marijuana we found, it's not difficult to put two and two together," Taylor said yesterday at the Bell Farm Road police station.
The two accused aren't known to police, Taylor said, but police rely heavily on public tips, such as people acting strangely or high traffic volume.
"It's good for us, because we got a pile of marijuana off the streets," he said. "But the odds are we would have come across it sooner or later."
rbowe@thebarrieexaminer.com
