Op SABOT: CF helps hunt down pot

[McG]

Latest news as of yesterday states the "war on drugs" is not working.

I don't see that headline in my read of the online Canadian news.  Where are you pulling this from?

 

[Nemo888]

And after busting the evil pot growers everyone went out and had a few beers.

 

[Acer Syrup]

They do this BC pretty much annually. I used to work in forestry before the mob. My tree planters called me one day at the office to say that "Dude, like black ninja's... man... like flew out of the sky into the block with machete's!" Unfortunately the ninja's didn't take the immature plants with them... so they thought they would help. Lucy had some explaining to do.

 

[mad dog 2020]

Heard it on the radio on the way to work. And next day on Morning news. It also ran on the rolling news during SunNews ,  despite bigger hauls and busts it does report that there is increased availability and lower prices. I heard someone suggest we hire these guys to run the gasoline industry in Canada.

 

[Remius]

War on drugs...

Canada never declared war on drugs.  It's a US term coined by Nixon last century.

 

[mad dog 2020]

No it was never formally declared. But we don't send in a couple guys in a cruiser or dressed in shorts, t-shirts and flip flops.
Nor are they in ball caps, lots of plaid with a farmers tan line driving a combine.
They are dressed tactically, swat teams or ERU. And armed to the teeth with full body armour.
Probably less planning went into D-Day than one of these joint OPP, RCMP & several regionals.
So if you dress in the garb it is what it is, full bore!
They are prepared for the worst, and we all pray for the best.

 

[McG]

So if you dress in the garb it is what it is, full bore!

So, you believe that what police tactical teams do is war?

 

[Eye In The Sky]

While I totally support the war on drugs, I question why the military needs to be involved in a law enforcement matter? This is very philosophically dangerous territory and IMO; we are best leaving the cops to it.

IMO if you are limiting the scope of the 'drug problem' to be only 'local and internal', that may be why you don't see a need for law enforcement/CAF combined operations, cooperation, whatever you want to call it.

The cops don't have or operate CPFs: 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canadian-navy-makes-record-drug-bust-at-sea/article12378159/

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canadian-ship-makes-major-drug-bust-on-the-high-seas-1.1218067

The cops don't maintain and crew a fleet of LRP aircraft that are or can be used for counterdrug ops in support of other Departments domestically, or internationally.

http://www.rcaf-arc.forces.gc.ca/en/aircraft-current/cp-140.page?

I don't see how 'the cops' can be as effective on their compared to the CAF and other departments such as DFO/CCG, etc working together as a team on a national level and Canada participating as a team player on the international level. 

Seems to me when I used to teach BMQ courses one of the things that was drilled into their heads was 'teamwork'.

:2c:

 

[The Bread Guy]

Bumped with the latest on costs ....

The RCMP and Canadian military have spent nearly $11.5 million in the last eight years on a national search-and-destroy mission for illicit marijuana crops.

Federal figures show the annual Mountie-led effort, known as Operation Sabot, has led to tens of thousands of pot plants being weeded out each year.

Liberal defence critic Joyce Murray, who uncovered the data, said she was "stunned" to see the amount spent on the project — especially when many are calling the war on drugs a failure.

The RCMP says the goal is to target outdoor marijuana growers and reduce the supply of pot available in Canadian communities.

"The success of Operation Sabot means that less marijuana is available for sale in our communities," said RCMP Sgt. Greg Cox, a spokesman for the national police force.

"These drugs could ultimately have been sold to youth and adults alike, and the profits used to finance organized crime."

Last year the military spent more than $361,000 on helicopter support for the operation, which resulted in eradication of over 40,600 plants.

The military put more than $2.5 million toward the project in 2009 — the highest annual tally among the figures disclosed to Murray through a parliamentary order paper question. That year 145,480 plants were destroyed ....

 

[PuckChaser]

Lots of info on costs, no info on the value of the pot:

40,600 plants eradicated, rough street value of $45 million. Pretty good for $360k
145,480 plants eradicated, rough street value of $160 million. Even better for $2.5 million.

Costs look huge, until you see the value of the drugs they're taking off the market. $160 million worth of just pot in a year is probably a sizable amount out of the supply chain.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

This Op, or some like it, have been going on since, at least the mid to late '70s. Hell, we had CP 121 Trackers doing this.

If you don't know what a\c I'm talking about, that's how long we've been doing it. The Trackers came off HMCS Bonaventure (you can google that one too). IIRC, Argus were also involved.

 

[Scoobie Newbie]

I wonder how things are working out in Denver.  Perhaps the experiment hasn't been long enough.

Lots of info on costs, no info on the value of the pot:

40,600 plants eradicated, rough street value of $45 million. Pretty good for $360k
145,480 plants eradicated, rough street value of $160 million. Even better for $2.5 million.

Costs look huge, until you see the value of the drugs they're taking off the market. $160 million worth of just pot in a year is probably a sizable amount out of the supply chain.

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

A lot of this CF support is informal also.

438 Tac Hel flies out of St-Hubert and over the Montérégie (the farmland Eat and South of Montréal) all the time and particularly between the air base and Farnham in support of training there. It's their low flying area (and they do fly low, having to pull up to avoid single story houses and telephone poles).

They have been known to turn over info on grow ops in the middle of corn field to the RCMP whenever they happen to spot them.

No need for a special MOU or operation, just happenstance. I am sure all the other squadrons do the same.