400 lbs of marijuana worth over $1M seized by Hamilton police

Buying pot in Hamilton just got a lot more difficult, thanks to local police officers have seized over 400 pounds of marijuana valued at over $1 million.

A seizure that large would definitely affect how much people can access the product, acting Sgt. Rich Vanderboom told CBC Hamilton. You will definitely notice it at the street level.

Itll take a fairly substantial time for this to recover. Its not like a dealer can just call someone up and say resupply me.

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This seizure stymies a large drug trafficking operation in the city, Vanderboom says. To put the amount in perspective, 400 pounds is about how much an average gorilla or black bear weighs.

The bust started months ago with a simple traffic infraction stop where drugs were found and police followed the network structure up to this seizure.

On May 26, police searched a storage unit in Mississauga and a home in Glanbrook. They found over 400 pounds of vacuum-sealed marijuana that was ready for distribution, a semi-automatic handgun with ammunition and drug processing equipment.

Police also seized a 2014 Audio S4 Quattro and a 2014 Kia Forte.

Vanderboom says its the largest processed marijuana seizure hes ever seen. Its a very significant seizure, he said. And the $1 million price tag is even a bit of a conservative estimate thats the value of the drugs when sold at the per pound level. When sold at the street level, markups would drive the price even higher, he said.

Two 23-year-old Hamilton men were arrested and have been charged with various drug and firearms-related offences.

Police believe there are other people involved in the operation who are still out there. Anyone with information about the operation is asked to call police at 905-546-2447 or Crime Stoppers at 905-522-8477.