ALERT tipped off to Airdrie Grow-op

Calgary… Thanks to a tip from the public submitted to Crime Stoppers, Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) has seized 730 marihuana plants and a semi-automatic handgun from an Airdrie grow-op.

ALERT’s Green Team dismantled the grow-op at a rural property west of Airdrie on May 22, with assistance from RCMP Airdrie and the Southern Alberta Emergency Response Team. The grow-op was located in a Quonset hut on the property with more than 700 plants, worth an estimated $912,500.

A semi-automatic High Standard Supermatic handgun was seized, along with ammunition. Clifford Clayton Favel, 38, was arrested and charged with:

• Production of a controlled substance;
• Possession for the purpose of trafficking;
• Unauthorized possession of a firearm;
• Possession of a firearm contrary to order;
• Breach of probation (x 4).

Two medicinal licenses were posted at the property, but neither were valid.

Grow-ops present a number of health and safety risks to neighbourhoods, and are often a major source of revenue for organized crime. To report a suspected grow-op, contact police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS). For information on how to spot a marihuana grow operation, visit www.alert-ab.ca/growops

ALERT’s Green Team is an integrated team consisting of Calgary Police Service and RCMP members, who are responsible to detecting and dismantling illegal marihuana grow-ops in the southern half of the province. Last year more than 200 grow-ops were discovered across Alberta.

ALERT was established and is funded by the Alberta Government and is a compilation of the province’s most sophisticated law enforcement resources committed to tackling serious and organized crime. Members of Alberta Sheriffs, Calgary Police Service, Edmonton Police Service, Lethbridge Regional Police Service, Medicine Hat Police Service, and RCMP work in ALERT.

-30-