OPP seize over $1.5M of illicit cannabis in Madoc

After executing a warrant in Madoc, Ontario, the Central Hastings Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), along with the Provincial Joint Forces Cannabis Enforcement Team (JFECT), Community Street Crime Unit (CSCU), and Emergency Response Team seized about $1.7 million worth of illicit cannabis.

The OPP announced the seizure in a press release on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. In the Cannabis Act, illicit cannabis means “cannabis that is or was sold, produced or distributed by a person prohibited from doing so under this Act or any provincial Act or that was imported by a person prohibited from doing so under this Act.“

At about 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022, OPP officers and members of the JFECT executed the warrant at a location on St. Lawrence Street East in Madoc. According to the release, police seized over 1,700 cannabis plants and approximately 1.4 kilograms of dried cannabis bud.

Chien Lin, 28 years old from Markham, Ont., was arrested and is facing the following charges:

• Unlawful possession of cannabis for the purpose of distributing it
• Unlawful possession of cannabis for the purpose of selling it
• Unlawfully cultivating, propagating or harvesting a cannabis plant that is from seed or plant material that is illicit cannabis

The accused is set to appear at the Ontario Court of Justice in Belleville on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022.