There are a lot of things to consider when you claim something is the largest, smallest, biggest, shortest, tallest, most expensive, fastest, etc.
One of the questions is whether something is the largest ever? What does that mean, the largest on record, or the largest you can find, or in fact the largest?
Quinte News decided to do a deep dive to find out where the recent seizures on Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory rank in Canadian history.
Ten individuals, including six non-community members, were arrested and charged under the Criminal Code and the Cannabis Act last week.
When you hear stats such as 72,000 cannabis plants and an estimated seizure value of $122-million, you are left to wonder the size compared to other operations.
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(Photo: screen shot from OPP video)
Over several hours of football and baseball on Saturday and Sunday, Quinte News searched web archives, police reports, and dozens of inputs to search engines.
I would be lying if I did not mention using several A.I programs, asking close to 100 different questions.
In short, the main question was, where does the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory investigation rank in Canadian history?
We looked at the number of plants seized, the estimated value, and the estimated value adjusted for inflation (many large seizures happened many years ago).
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First was by the number of cannabis plants. According to our research, the busts combined in the multi-site seizure, would be second largest in Canadian history.
At 72,000 plants, the only seizure that we could find that was larger (ranked by plants), is in Jarvis, Ontario. That seizure this past summer brought in more than 100,000 plants, but less than half the estimated value in dollars ($55-million).
Next is the estimated value of the bust.
It is important to note that police agencies must look at a number of things when coming up with the value of the bust.
Any items that are seized in a bust, such as currency, drug paraphernalia, dried cannabis, plant strain, maturation, amount of bud, packaging supplies, property, machinery, weapons, buildings, and more.
For this investigation we also have to look at how many different properties are involved in the investigation.
Some investigations involve other drugs like cocaine, so that of course can quickly complicate a comparison.
In the Newmarket area in 2020, there was a bust that charged 37-people and had an estimated value of around $150-million.
That cannabis bust involved more than a dozen locations and about 30,000 plants
Our research found that Tyendinaga’s bust may in fact be the second largest ever, by estimated police value ($122-million).
There could also be consideration for inflation, cost of living, and overall demand for the product.
Other major seizures we discovered were the 2004 bust at the old arena in Barrie, one in Pembroke with 40,000 plants, along with one in 2008 in B.C, valued at about $40-million (adjusted for inflation $55-$60-million).
Depending on what metrics you use, it is debatable what the largest seizure in Canadian history is.
What is for sure is that the busts in Tyendinaga in 2025 will go down as one of the largest seizures ever.
A seizure that was lead by outside criminal organizations exploiting Indigenous land and people.
(Photo: screen shot from OPP video)