Officers have charged four people after a search warrant in northeast Edmonton revealed around 60,000 opium plants as part of what they call an “elaborate poppy-growing operation.”
The Edmonton Drug and Gang Enforcement (EDGE) section executed a search warrant near 34 Street and 195 Avenue NW on July 4, according to a news release.
A two-day investigation found a field of poppies with a value of between $160,000 and $500,000.
Officers also found doda powder, which is made by grinding opium poppy pods and is often used to make a highly-addictive tea with analgesic effects, reads the release.
Opium is a plant containing analgesic alkaloid morphine. It can be processed to make heroin and other opioids, the release says.
It’s also considered a Schedule 1 drug, a classification used for the most high-risk drugs and substances under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
The four men now face charges of production of a controlled substance.
