[420 Girl]

Nova Scotia. — Police should be prepared to admit they are wrong if a drug bust doesn’t produce charges against all the individuals initially targeted, a couple and their lawyer say.

“They have great fanfare when they make these big drug busts and, if and when they fall apart, you never hear a word saying, `Oops, we made a mistake,”’ said defence lawyer Al Begin.

“And it is very unfortunate for those who are caught in this web.”
In mid-February, the owners of Wilson Mountain Hydroponics were implicated in a wide-sweeping drug bust that resulted in charges being laid against a number of individuals.

The bust involved both the RCMP and Truro Police Service and was described at the time by Truro Chief David MacNeil as being a “significant seizure and a significant disruption of an organized crime group.”

A picture of the couple’s property also appeared the following day on the front page of the Truro News after a reporter discovered police involved in the operation at that location.

While some individuals have already pled guilty to various drug-related offences from the bust and others are still to appear before the courts, the owners of Wilson Mountain Hydroponics were never charged.

Last week, a provincial court judge agreed to a request by Begin to have property seized in the raid returned to his clients. The documents involved cancelled cheques, sales receipt books, power bills, telephone bills and other related material.

Begin said the only item that has been returned so far is the couple’s computer.

Begin said his clients, who do not want to be identified by name, “have absolutely no concern about anything inappropriate or illegal being on their computer. They’re all legal supplies.”

One of the cleared individuals said police made it sound like an organized crime ring and “we’re in the middle of it.”

“I want it to be known that ... they didn’t dismantle any marijuana-grow operation at our house. They didn’t get any drugs, cocaine, money, guns. They took paper, is what they got from us.”

Although MacNeil did not want to discuss specific charges or individuals, he described the raids as part of an ongoing “complex file, complex investigation” that police continue to feel was generally a success.


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