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BC bud gets around
By Hempology | August 28, 2007
Globe and Mail, Canada
25 Aug 2007
B.C. BUD MAKING ITSELF AT HOME IN N.B.
MONCTON ( CP ) — A new import from British Columbia is taking root in New Brunswick forests and the RCMP aren’t too happy about it.
“It’s a new type of marijuana plant called B.C. Bud and we’re finding it in New Brunswick,” said Kent, N.B., RCMP Sergeant David Mazerolle.
This particular species of plant is harder for police to see from the sky because it’s quite short. It’s also more efficient for those who grow it because it produces as many buds as a plant more than triple its size.
This is the time of year police will find marijuana plants because it’s almost harvest season for illegal outdoor grow-ops. As they have the past few years, RCMP districts all over the province are descending on hidden grow-ops and tearing the plants out of the ground.
It’s known as Operation Sabot, and J Division Sergeant Derek Strong said it started a few days ago and will likely continue for the next couple of weeks.
“It’s quite simple,” he explained. “An RCMP helicopter goes up in the air with spotters to look for marijuana fields, which are extremely visible from the air. The plants are a colour green you don’t normally see, that almost glows. That makes it hard to hide.”
Once a field is spotted, the co-ordinates are radioed to a ground team that heads in on all-terrain vehicles or whatever it takes to reach it.
Occasionally, the fields are so secluded the chopper has to land so the operation can be dismantled, but that’s rare because the people growing the marijuana have to be able to get to it.
As of yesterday, Kent RCMP had seized 1,600 plants in the Cocagne, Bouctouche, Richibucto and Rexton areas and were following leads to more possible fields.
Last year, only about 15 to 20 of the plants seized in Kent County were B.C. Bud, but so far this year police have already uncovered 150.
“It seems it’s becoming the plant of choice for many,” Sgt. Mazerolle said. “This is the first year we’ve seen so much.”
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