Hamilton wages dramatic ongoing battle against illegal grow ops

A man Toronto Police describe as a small-time player in the drug world opens a marijuana growing operation in an old east-end strip club, and no one knows until neighbours notice the stench.

Someone else starts an operation in a quiet residential neighbourhood in upper Stoney Creek, and there are at least two frightening incidents of gun fire in April. In one case, the bullets hit an unsuspecting neighbour's house.

We're headed toward disaster.- Sam Merulla

This sort of drama is happeningin the"wild west" of Hamilton'snot-yet-legal marijuana industry a place where danger looms, confusion swirls around who is licensed, and the city is left fighting its own court battles to try to evict urban growing operations.

"We're headed toward disaster," said Sam Merulla of Ward 4, who places the blame on Health Canada's lack of communication.

"It's like the wild west right now," he said. And if it doesn't get solved, when pot is legalized in 2018, "we'll just be chasing our tails."

A recent CBC investigation shows organized crime groups, including the Hells Angels, have managed to obtain legal licences to manufacture medical marijuana for personal use, only to illegally sell the product across the country. And while there's no evidence yet that's happening here, the confusion certainly doesn't help.

People can't even barbecue.- Brenda Johnson, Ward 11 councillor

Hamilton's first battle with a marijuana producer dates back to last May. That's when neighbours noticed the stench of pot wafting from 229 Kenilworth Ave. N., a dilapidated-looking buildingthat once housed a bar and strip club.

City officials visited. Someone at the location then rentedbyAntonioSergi showed police and city enforcement officers a Health Canada licence to grow medicinal marijuana. Hamilton Police Service didn't respond to questions about how it knew the place was licensed.

But Health Canada told the CBC last year that the place was notlicensed, and never had been. Neither the city nor the police can explain the confusion.

"The city relied on the information that was obtained and reviewed by the police," said spokesperson Ann Lamanes.

"Our (bylaw) officers also saw and took photos of the Health Canada licences that were produced for our inspection.They all had the address of 229 Kenilworth Ave. printed on the licence."

Meanwhile, the city took Sergi to court in an effort to evict him. Then in March, Sergi, who the National Post saidhad one-time mob ties, was shot and killed in his Etobicoke driveway.

The National Post says Sergi, who was known as Tony Large,was still fighting his Kenilworth Avenue North landlord in court when he died.

Now the city faces a similar challenge at 288 Green Mountain Rd., an otherwise residential neighbourhood in upper Stoney Creek.

Last month, shots were fired at least twice at the operation. In one case, the bullets hit an unsuspectingneighbour's house.

The property is not only intimidating, it's a nuisance, said Coun. Brenda Johnson of Ward 11 in a council meeting last week.

"I've driven by this place the last two weeks at least three times," she said. "The smell is so obnoxious that it takes me a good couple of kilometres, with all my windows open, to get rid of the smell."

"People can't even barbecue. They can't have anything outside because of the smell that's so bad."

Health Canada says the Green Mountain Road location is not licensed for commercial production either. At most,says spokesperson Suzane Aboueid, someone there is licensed to produce marijuana for personal medical use.

But once again, the city and police appear to think otherwise.

"We are working with the police department," Lamanessaid."We have again learned that this location has Health Canada licences as well."

The property, which was sold to Robert Murray last May for $700,000, also isn't zoned for growing pot either.

Merulla maintains that the federal government could make this easier. Right now, Health Canada only posts the names of companies licensed to grow marijuana. There are no specific addresses included. He thinks there should be.

It should be like the LCBO, he said, where people can go online and see where licensed growers are located.

"There should be a registry," he said. "I should be able to go online, as you can with the liquor license board, and look at exactly where the licensed establishments are."

Right now, Health Canada shares information on licence holders with law enforcement via a 24/7 dedicated phone line. It doesn't post addresses of commercial holders online for "security reasons,"Aboueidsaid.

Health Canada wouldn't elaborate last year on whether it checks growing establishments to see if they comply with local zoning laws.

City officials are also looking athow to better regulate marijuana dispensaries. In 2014, city council also had extensive debates aroundwhere to legally allowlicensed growing operations.

samantha.craggs@cbc.ca | @SamCraggsCBC