A fire that caused extensive damage to a house in Point de Bute last week also uncovered a marijuana extraction and production operation on the premises.
In the early morning hours of March 17, the Sackville Municipal RCMP were called to assist the Chignecto Fire Department as they battled a house fire in the small community. A 26-year-old man was arrested at the scene, but later released.
Acting RCMP team leader Dan Hilchie said Monday that it's not yet known whether the illegal operation was the cause of the fire.
"(The cause of the fire) is still under investigation. I know there are materials that are very explosive when you use that stuff but we don't know if that was the clear cause of the fire initially," he said.
Production of marijuana involves either the clipping of buds off of the plant to sell as dry material or extracting the tetrahydrocannabinol - also known as THC - to make hash oil.
"What they do basically is use some type of alcohol to soak the plant into a mush, then they make hash oil out of that," he explained.
The initial examination of the house after the fire revealed the marijuana lab, Hilchie noted. RCMP then obtained a warrant to search the premises and, working in conjunction with the RCMP Coordinated Marihuana Enforcement Team, the provincial fire marshal's office as well as an accelerant-sniffing dog, found a large quantity of dried marijuana, marijuana that was in the process of being extracted and related drug paraphernalia.
"What we run into with a fire, when we're trying to gather evidence is, it's not always in plain view. You're moving things, you're looking for items…it's pretty hard when things are charred up and burned…that's the challenge that we have. We use the sniffer dogs to help us out a little bit more," Hilchie explained.
The investigation is continuing and the RCMP expects to interview several other individuals before proceeding with any action.
The owner of the house was not living there at the time but was renting it to another individual.
Marijuana extraction lab uncovered in Pointe de Bute
- Published on March 26th, 2008
- Published on March 5th, 2010
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Staff ~ The Sackville Tribune Post
Early morning fire reveals drug lab in area home
A fire that caused extensive damage to a house in Point de Bute last week also uncovered a marijuana extraction and production operation on the premises.
In the early morning hours of March 17, the Sackville Municipal RCMP were called to assist the Chignecto Fire Department as they battled a house fire in the small community. A 26-year-old man was arrested at the scene, but later released.
Acting RCMP team leader Dan Hilchie said Monday that it's not yet known whether the illegal operation was the cause of the fire.
"(The cause of the fire) is still under investigation. I know there are materials that are very explosive when you use that stuff but we don't know if that was the clear cause of the fire initially," he said.
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