It’s been a good and very busy summer and fall for the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), which seized more than $143 million worth of illegal cannabis since the start of July.

The seizures involved 122,000-plus illegal cannabis plants from 52 large-volume operations, one site alone having 7,000 plants, in communities across Ontario, notes an OPP statement. In all, “195 arrests have been made in the takedown of several criminal enterprises exploiting the Health Canada medical, personal and designate cannabis production regime,” it reports.

Specifically, from July 1 through Oct. 15, police investigators executed 52 warrants in Ontario and laid 327 charges under the federal Cannabis Act and Criminal Code of Canada. The charges ranged far and wide, from possession of cannabis for the purposes of selling to careless storage of a firearm, according to the OPP.

There have been many high-profile busts over the past four months, including the seizures of 3,800 illegal plants at a rural grow-op near Leamington, almost 2,300 plants in Prince Edward County and 870 cannabis plants near Trent Hills.

Wrap-up of arrests, warrants and plants seized. / Image: Ontario Provincial Police

The threat to communities posed by illegal, large-scale and sophisticated operations that involve issues of public safety, environmental contamination and human trafficking cannot be understated, Detective Inspector Jim Walker of the OPP Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau says in the statement.

Purchasing cannabis from anywhere other than the online Ontario Cannabis Store or an authorized private retailer could result in a fine of as much as $100,000 and/or imprisonment for up to one year.

One outdoor grow raided in the last few months by the OPP. / Photo: Ontario Provincial Police

“Organized crime is firmly entrenched in the production, distribution and sale of illegal cannabis,” Walker emphasizes. “These criminal enterprises exploit Health Canada registrations to produce or designate someone to produce cannabis for medical purposes by diverting cannabis authorized to be grown for medical purposes to the illegal market,” the OPP points out.

But the advice of the Consumer Choice Center is that government should not try to arrest its way out of a clearly serious problem.

Cannabis plants seized during one recent OPP raid. / Photo: Ontario Provincial Police

“The government should focus on transitioning permit-holder growers into the legal market. Making it easier for excess cannabis to end up in the legal market, coupled with a Health Canada review for criminal activity, would go a long way in stamping out the black market,” David Clement, Toronto-based North American affairs manager for the CCC, contends in a statement.

“The OPP’s report confirms what we speculated in April, which is that organized crime has weaseled its way into the permit process,” Clement says. Access to Information Requests show the personal and designate program produces 2.5 to 4.5 times more cannabis than the legal market, he adds.

“Unfortunately, that excess cannabis is being diverted into the illegal market. Health Canada should review the permit process to ensure that criminal networks aren’t using it to fuel their nefarious activities,” he says, but adds it definitely shouldn’t “target legitimate permit holders.”

Charges laid following raids of illegal grow-ops included careless storage of a firearms. / Photo: Ontario Provincial Police

It is not clear where all the illegal cannabis goes, but the U.S. is likely one hot spot. Border ports along the Canada/U.S. border, including in Michigan and New York, have seen big hikes in weed seizures in 2020 compared to 2019.

The Detroit Field Office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), for example, has seized 9,000-plus pounds (4,082 kg) of weed at ports of entry around the state in fiscal 2020. In Buffalo, the CBP field office there seized 3,425 pounds, or just shy of 1,555 kg, of cannabis in just the month of July.