A small marijuana grow-operation has been dismantled in the rural Cariboo, the latest action by the North District Integrated Marijuana Enforcement Task Force (NDIME).
NDIME officers worked with members of the Williams Lake RCMP and the RCMP's North District regional headquarters to unveil the grow-op located in the Big Lake area. They executed their search warrant on Saturday.
"Members attended the residence on West Big Lake Road," said North District RCMP spokesperson Const. Lesley Smith. "RCMP seized approximately 366 marijuana plants including equipment used for the cultivation of marijuana."
Smith said the investigation is still very active because "there were no suspects located at the West Big Lake property," so efforts are underway "to locate the individuals who were tending [this grow-op]."
NDIME was a one-year pilot project to focus RCMP and partner law enforcement agencies on the marijuana cultivation industry operating in the Cariboo region (100 Mile House to Prince George). After significant success, the project was expanded. It was announced in March that NDIME would be a permanent standing force to help the region's local police detachments combat organized crime through the disruption of gangs' main source of income: marijuana plantations.