Police were at a Rosedale farm property Tuesday afternoon dismantling a marijuana grow operation and seizing more than 3,200 plants and 32 kilograms of bud.
Six people were arrested and released at the scene as part of the search warrant executed at the Gillanders Road property.
City of Chilliwack staff and at least one BC Hydro worker were on the scene with RCMP for much of the afternoon. Mounties were seen removing multiple garbage bags from the main farm building at the address.
Chilliwack RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Mike Rail confirmed police executed a warrant under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA).
[ED NOTE: an earlier version of this story said it was a CBSA investigation, but this was the source of a miscommunication.]
The five-acre property in question is owned by Chang Yu Xu as of Oct. 21, 2016, according to city records. Prior to that it was owned by members of the Visscher family all the way back to 1973. The mailbox on the property still says “Visscher Greenhouses.”
While police could not confirm Tuesday that illegal marijuana was being grown on site, a source that has done work on the site told the Progress that during a visit he saw multiple medical marijuana growing permits from Langley, Surrey displayed prominently inside the building.
Rail said that would remain part of the investigation, which has just begun.
Most of the property — which is nearly surrounded by larger properties owned by Devry Nurseries — is covered with greenhouses, although some smaller hoophouses on the south end of the property were destroyed, likely in the recent winter snow and ice events.
See www.theprogress.com for more details as they become available.
paul.henderson@theprogress.com
@PeeJayAitch